Mental Health Benefits of Exercise
We know that exercise can have a lot of physical benefits, but what about mental health benefits? According to research, it has been suggested that exercise can do a lot for your mental well-being. “Increasingly robust evidence suggests that exercise is not only necessary for the maintenance of good mental health, but it can be used to treat even chronic mental illness…On the treatment side, exercise appears to be as good as existing pharmacological interventions across a range of conditions.” Exercise does this by actually directly affecting the brain. “Regular exercise increases the volume of certain brain regions—in part through better blood supply that improves neuronal health by improving the delivery of oxygen and nutrients; and through an increase in neurotrophic factors and neurohormones that support neuron signaling, growth, and connections.” Apparently, there really is something to the “runner’s high” phenomenon!
So if we know that exercise positively affects the brain, how much exercise do we need in order to get those benefits? According to psychiatrist Madhukar Trivedi, “three or more sessions per week of aerobic exercise or resistance training, for 45 to 60 minutes per session, can help treat even chronic depression. Effects tend to be noticed after about four weeks (which incidentally is how long neurogenesis takes), and training should be continued for 10-12 weeks for the greatest anti-depressant effect.” But if you should end up doing less than that, you can still reap some benefits. “Exercise levels below these recommended amounts are still beneficial, and of course, the side effects (weight loss, increased energy, better skin, improved physical health, etc.) are pretty palatable. The brain actually has a neat trick to get us back on track too. As outlined by Psychology Today blogger Christopher Bergland, even small improvements in exercise levels or diet create a positive upward spiral that increases the sensitivity of the dopamine receptors that signal reward, so that exercise will eventually become rewarding, even if that seems unimaginable at the outset.”[1] Of course, you should speak to your doctor before beginning any new exercise routine and the information provided here is not intended to replace any pre-existing treatment plan you have already been prescribed. But if the information here interests you, talk to your doctor about incorporating exercise for your mental health! We can all use a little more happiness in our lives these days.
[1] Gingell, Sarah. “How Your Mental Health Reaps the Benefits of Exercise.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 Mar. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-works-and-why/201803/how-your-mental-health-reaps-the-benefits-exercise.