The Extraordinary Effects Exercise Has On Your Mental Health

Why moving your body is so effective for your mind.

Mental Health.

It’s a topic that receives a fair bit of attention these days.

NHS England estimates that 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 children experience mental health difficulties. But what can we do to help our mental health?

Well — there are loads of things, but I want to stress two words.

Physical Activity.

Physical activity (as the word suggests) has many physical benefits and we could have a humungous list naming them all. But, one of the main advantages that does not get highlighted enough are the mental health benefits.

Whether you are stressed, feeling low, anxious or worried — one of the best things to turn to is — you guessed it — physical activity.

What Does The Research Say?

More recently, there has been a LOT of research that has looked at the effects of physical activity on mental health — in both clinical (individuals who have a diagnosed mental health difficulty) and non-clinical (people who do not have a diagnosed difficulty) populations.

But let’s roll back the years a bit!

Nearly 40 years ago, physical fitness training was found to improve mood in clinical and non-clinical people and psychological improvement was shown in children with learning difficulties who took part in fitness activities.

In 1985, physical activity was found to reduce depressive symptoms, had positive effects on addiction and helped improve symptoms relating to anxiety.

These results were back in the 80s — where mental health in general, was not nearly as big as it is today, yet research back then was pointing to positive effects of doing some sort of activity on our mental health.

So why is exercise not being encouraged more as a way of helping our brains?

Let’s split this up into 2 sections:

1) Exercise and its effects on people with diagnosed difficulties.

2) Physical activity and its influence on non-clinical individuals.

1. Exercise and Mental Health Diagnosis

Let’s fast forward a bit from the 80s.

In 2006, research looked at whether doing exercise had an impact on children and young people’s mental health. The exercises included different types such as running, walking, weightlifting and aerobics.

They found exercise reduced depression and anxiety in both young people and adolescents. It did not matter whether exercise was of high or low intensity. Both intensities helped with individuals’ mental health.

Fast forward five years later, research found being more physically active in children helped lower depression, anxiety, emotional disturbance and distress/post-traumatic stress disorder.

The activities carried out by children in the research above included circuit training, resistance training and sports participation (football, volleyball, skiing etc).

Looking at the present, more research found that in young individuals, physical activity that included repeated exercise and group-based activities such as different sports was an effective form of therapy in reducing depression.

Just from a couple of studies, we can see there seems to be some benefit towards mental health from exercising in clinical populations.

Before you say it — yes, there are problems with research evidence. But, as you read through, you will find it is so hard to ignore the astonishing benefits shown by physical activity.

So — we’ve had a look at the effects of physical activity on the youngsters. What about the older generation?

A 2014 study found physical activity produced a large reduction in depression and schizophrenia in adults. Exercise in this study consisted of different activities including yoga, tai chi and other exercise programs that had been put together for the adults.

More recently, in 2018, aerobic exercise, which simply means using oxygen during exercise such as walking, running or cycling for a longer period of time, was found to have a huge effect similar to antidepressant medication on adults who have been diagnosed with depression.

The effects involved large improvements in individuals self-rated and clinician-rated depression scores.

This 2018 study is so important as not only did it look at clinicians ratings of the individuals, it also looked at individuals own ratings of how they were feeling themselves.

I am sure we would argue that recovery is not just about what a clinician says and sees but also how you judge how you are feeling.

I remember when working in a care home for individuals with mental health difficulties, one very special lady used to always say ‘Right, I need to do my exercises now — it’ll help me’.

What were her exercises? She simply used to walk up and down the corridor several times a day.

This may sound like nothing, but for her, it was enough. She would complete her exercises when she felt distressed and after, she would feel more relaxed.

Summarising this, clearly shows the brilliant benefits exercise can have on our mental health. That’s why I definitely encourage taking part in physical activity, no matter what it is to help our mind.

2. Exercise and Non-Clinical Populations

It’s great to see the excellent effects of exercise on clinical aspects of mental health. But as we all know, life can be very demanding and can put a huge mental strain on all of us.

So — what about exercise and its effect on people who do not have a diagnosed difficulty?

Alice Tulloch and others in 2018 looked at if yoga as an exercise has benefits to peoples wellbeing. They found that yoga in older adults (60+), resulted in good improvements in individuals mental well-being.

What was even more impressive is that the older adults in this research above, suffered from chronic pains, Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis, cancer and more.

This shows us how you can tailor your exercise to yourself depending on your health state or fitness levels and still reap the benefits of physical activity.

In another piece of research, physical activity was found to help reduce depression and anxiety in non-clinical adults.

Now hang on a second! You may be thinking ‘You just said exercise and its effect on people who DO NOT have a mental health diagnosis. Why are you mentioning mental health terms like depression and anxiety!’.

What this means is that even in individuals who are not diagnosed with depression and anxiety, doing some form of exercise can help reduce anxious feelings and low moods, which we all experience in day to day life.

For example, if you’re stressed and have a low mood due to difficulties in finding a job or you feel nervous and anxious when giving in a report at work, exercise can help with the reduction of these feelings.

Finally, self-esteem has been found to increase in children by doing just a tad more exercise. Self-esteem isn’t a diagnosed difficulty but it is something that can contribute to poor mental health.

That’s why whether you have a diagnosed difficulty or not, it is clear for us to see that exercise is so beneficial for our minds, as it can affect traits which contribute to poor mental well-being.

Why Do We Get These Benefits From Exercise?

After looking at all this evidence you’re probably wondering how does exercise actually help our minds?

This is where it can get complicated as there are many reasons.

Let us take depression as an example.

One cause for depression is a theory called ‘Monoamine Theory of Depression’. This means that depression is thought to be caused due to different chemicals in our brain not being as active as they should be.

One of those chemicals is ‘serotonin’.

A lack of serotonin levels in our brain can contribute towards depression based on this theory.

So, trying to increase serotonin levels should help with the treatment of depression.

Simon Young and many other researchers have shown that exercise increases serotonin levels in the brain.

Also, this increase in serotonin due to exercise is producing the same effect antidepressant medication produces. For example, one type of antidepressant medication is known as ’selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors’ or SSRI for short.

SSRI’s as the name suggests STOPS or ‘inhibits’ the REMOVAL or ‘reuptake’ of SEROTONIN.

Why? So there is a greater level of serotonin in the brain to improve symptoms.

Well — like I’ve said above, exercise has shown to increase serotonin levels. Therefore, this is one reason put forward by academics as to why exercise produces great effects on our mental health, in this case, depression.

Now — I am NOT saying ditch the medication for exercise. No. That needs to be spoken about with your doctor if you have a diagnosed difficulty, as they are qualified to make suggestions about medication. Also, medication can help.

I am simply encouraging taking part in physical activity due to what research shows us and I am trying to raise awareness of the excellent advantages shown by exercise on our mental well-being.

Depression is used as one example and elevating serotonin levels is only one factor as to why exercise can help with depression. There are many other factors and many other ways in which exercise can help with our mental health.

Final Comments

Gathering this evidence points to many advantages that exercise can have on our mental health.

This includes:

1) Benefits towards everyone.

2) Advantages towards many different aspects of mental health, including depression, anxiety, distress, low moods etc.

3) Help towards factors that can contribute to poor mental health, for example, self-esteem.

There is also a range of different types of exercises that can help with our mental health. This includes aerobic exercise, yoga, tai chi, taking part in different sports and many more!

The take-home message people — get moving! I want you to have a go at something — anything — to get you moving, so you can grab all the rewards that exercise offers and make you feel like a different person!

Has doing physical activity helped you feel better — mentally?