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Does sport really help to cope with depression and anxiety? How does physical activity affect mental state and emotional health? Why does sport improve mood?
Complex psychological trauma, severe depressive states are best worked out with a specialist. But if anxiety and depression are temporary phenomena, they can be eliminated with the help of sports loads. It has been proven that physical activity helps to forget about problems for a while, restores self-confidence and self-confidence.
- Physical inactivity, the absence of any sport, a sedentary lifestyle – all this can lead to a deterioration in memory, attention, and a weakening of mental activity. From this it can be seen that physical activity is directly related to the moral state of a person. And if it is not there, it can become one of the causes of anxiety, obsessive thoughts and even panic attacks.
- Sport affects morale by increasing the level of neuropeptide Y. This substance puts the brain in a state of increased readiness to meet any danger, thereby allowing you to believe in yourself, gain inner stability and peace of mind.
Why you should exercise when you’re depressed
Depression is a disease that is partially treated with drugs. But there may be contraindications to the use of these drugs in humans. There are usually no contraindications to moderate activity. Therefore, you can easily replace a visit to a psychologist, a psychiatrist, as well as the use of drugs with a 15-minute jog.
Even if every week you spend only 1 hour doing sports exercises, over time you will notice how your moral well-being will change for the better. To test how sports affect mental health, studies were conducted on students who were preparing to take final exams and had high mental stress.
All students were divided into three groups:
- The first group performed exercises on a stationary bike three times a week for 30 minutes per workout.
- The second group did intense exercise for about 15 minutes per workout.
- The third group did not go in for sports.
Two months later, students who were not physically active began to suffer from depression. Moreover, this state began to develop in them without any special prerequisites. Those students who studied intensively began to experience emotional and physical stress.
Young people who exercised moderately felt good both mentally and physically. They were not tense at all, not stressed about the fact that they had to take important exams.
From this we can conclude that with great mental stress and depression, it is best to exercise in moderation, keep the body in good shape, and get physical activity regularly and in small quantities. Just do not overdo it, bring yourself to exhaustion, as this will negatively affect both mental health and physical condition.
Simple exercises for anxiety and depression
To get rid of anxiety, symptoms of depression, it is best to perform simple exercises that bring pleasure. From the very first workout, you will feel how anxiety begins to recede. And if you practice regularly, you can consolidate a positive result.
Walking is suitable for this purpose – long walks in the fresh air saturate the brain with oxygen, allow you to calm down, be alone with yourself, and get positive emotions. You can ride a bike, go to the pool several times a week, get carried away with tennis, badminton, any other sports game.
In a stressful state, it is better not to resort to intense physical exertion, as the body may not be able to cope with them. This will be additional stress, which will increase anxiety. It will be enough to use exercises that only support physical fitness, improve well-being, but do not lead to a state of exhaustion.
Sports improve mood
Regular exercise can improve your mood because:
- a person, coming to the gym, can find like-minded people;
- there is a noticeable improvement in physical fitness;
- learning new skills increases self-confidence;
- sport allows you to escape from the subject of concern.
It is worth remembering that the effect of classes lasts only a day, so you should not take too long breaks between workouts in order to maintain this feeling of peace, joy, and lack of anxiety.
Any sports load will definitely make your life brighter, filled with positive emotions, improve your mental state and make you feel much better.