I wanted to research about this topic and hopefully offer my opinion, because the question seems to have a straightforward answer: yes, exercise improves mental health (as we’ve heard too many times before). However, exercise seems to be interlinked with society’s toxic obsession with dieting, weight loss and perfect bodies, and sometimes has a role in mental illnesses such as eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders (I will put TW’s in before paragraphs mentioning them), which all point to the fact that exercise might be detrimental to mental health after all! In this article, I hope to explore both the beneficial and dark sides of exercise, and to hammer home the point that society has massively warped the point of exercise, which could diminish the inherent mental health benefits of exercise!
Between the piling work and approaching deadlines, the thought of exercising may seem like an unnecessary hassle. Why would we want to trade watching our comfort TV show for tiring exercise?
When we think of exercise, we tend to picture intimidating gyms filled with thousands of mirrors. We think about the overly strenuous physical activity and sometimes lose complete motivation to exercise. However, exercise doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the gym and doing intensive HIIT sessions - in fact, it can be as simple as gardening or walking! Essentially, physical activity is any kind of movement that requires your muscles and expends energy. Needless to say, exercise brings a myriad of benefits to our physical health, ranging from improved cardiovascular health and reduced cholesterol, to improved joints and bones and increased energy levels. Amazingly, exercise has a dual role in improving both physical health and mental health!
It is important to note that the positive impacts of exercise are not only limited to mental illnesses, but can be seen in our mental state and wellbeing in general. Exercise plays a crucial role in boosting our mood and alertness, and research has demonstrated that a mere 10-minute brisk walk can achieve this effect. Exercising promotes the production of chemicals in our brains such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin which affect focus. Furthermore, exercise boosts serotonin and endorphins, our feel-good chemicals. A study required people to rate their moods immediately after exercise, and they consequently reported being more awake, content and calmer. In addition, regular exercise increases sleep quality, thereby regulating mood as well!
Next, exercise alleviates stress. (I personally love playing squash and I think it is the epitome of a cathartic sport!!) Living in today’s fast-paced society, it isn’t uncommon for stress to build up in our lives. Apart from the mental toll stress takes on us, stress can also manifest itself physically in numerous ways: muscle tension, chest tightness, insomnia, diarrhoea and so on. During exercise, adrenaline accumulated from stress is given an outlet, while skeletal muscle tension is relieved, or at least, reduced. In a study of employed adults, findings showed highly active individuals being more prone to lower stress rates, in comparison to their less active counterparts, demonstrating the stress-relieving ability of exercise. Thus, with increasingly hectic schedules, exercise presents itself as a positive and effective coping strategy.
Apart from stress relief and mood-boosting, aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety and depression, owing to a plethora of reasons of which some have been mentioned above. (I think it is very crucial to stress the fact that exercise can reduce anxiety and depression since not everyone has identical experiences, and although exercise can boost mood and is genuinely beneficial to some people suffering from these illnesses, sometimes the answer is not as easy as that and we shouldn’t discount someone’s struggle by saying “Oh just exercise/do this and that.” Anyway, rant over!)
For example, exercise creates an outlet for frustration or simply acts as a distraction from negative thoughts (albeit temporary). We are also given the opportunity to exercise with a companion, thereby allowing socialising and increasing social support, which is crucial to our wellbeing. Biologically, one hypothesis explaining the impacts of exercise on anxiety and depression is that exercise increases blood circulation to the brain.
In exercise, we have the ability to take charge of ourselves: we can choose to try new sports or techniques and we can set targets. The sense of control given by self-directed and self-motivated exercise can improve our perceptions of ourselves, increasing our self-esteem. However, this exact control has the potential to spiral out of control and lead us down a toxic path of excessive exercise.
(TW: discussion of excessive exercise in relation to body dysmorphic disorders and eating disorders)
Excessive exercise is an unhealthy and dangerous habit most prominently linked to body dysmorphic disorders and eating disorders. Typical characteristics of excessive exercise include frequent exercise during inappropriate times, insistence to exercise despite injury, distress caused if the individual cannot exercise, exercise interfering with important activities and so on. In many cases, individuals over-exercise to achieve certain body ideals and to feel a sense of control over themselves. Excessive exercise is a genuine and serious issue, as it can lead to many health complications, such as chronic joint and bone pain, persistent fatigue and so on. Therefore, it is incredibly important for anyone struggling with this to seek help from professionals and be supported, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy which can assist in changing underlying beliefs about exercise. It takes massive courage and bravery to seek help, so please show whoever is struggling with this love and support, and if you are struggling with it yourself, I promise it is so worthwhile to ask for help (and I am virtually showering you with strength and affirmations!!).
Today, diet culture unfortunately plagues our society. It has warped the purpose of exercise, convincing us to believe we should solely exercise with the target of burning calories in mind. This deeply ingrained mindset partly contributes to toxic relationships with exercise, such as excessive exercise as mentioned.
But this shouldn’t be what exercise is all about.
I believe exercise should be about how you feel. It should be encouraging and empowering, stress-relieving and mood-boosting, rather than something done solely to compensate for our calorie intake. Of course, this is easier said than done, as it means actively going against what society has been promoting for decades. However, with both sides discussed, I truly believe that exercise is beneficial to mental health if the individual’s relationship with exercise is healthy.
Over the course of the pandemic, online school and my general laziness and refusal to partake in any sort of … movement… has made it difficult to muster the motivation to start exercising again. However, in the past few months, I have focused on making it a priority to exercise, working my way up gradually from errands and coffee walks, to jogging and squash. (Needless to say, my stamina has definitely taken a massive hit, but seeing my strength come back progressively has been encouraging!)
I completely understand that starting to integrate the recommended 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week into your routine can seem daunting, but exercise absolutely does not have to be intense or overly taxing! Choose something you love or want to take up, such as a sport or taking walks in the park, and build up your activity with patience as you progress! Creating helpful journals, setting goals and most importantly, rewarding yourself, are all ways to maintain self-motivation.
Bibliography: