Should exercise be the new primary prescription for those with mental health problems?

“Exercise helps reduce mental health disorder symptoms such as anxiety, depression, anger and psychomotor agitation…”

Yesterday I read an article from neurosciencenews.com about how using exercise could help reduce mental health issues like anxiety and depression as well as anger and psychomotor agitation.

As someone who suffers from extreme anxiety, and has suffered since a very young age (as far back as 12 years old), I use exercise daily as a big relief for my stress and anxiety, and this is something I’ve also promoted for years to all of my clients. It doesn’t “cure” my anxiety, but man, it sure helps!

I was very happy to see that the findings from the study show that physical exercise is so effective at improving people’s symptoms that it could lessen patients’ time admitted to facilities and dependence on medications.

“The general attitude of medicine is that you treat the primary problem first, and exercise was never considered to be a life or death treatment option. Now that we know it’s so effective, it can become as fundamental as pharmacological intervention,” explains David Tomasi, a lecturer at the University of Vermont, psychotherapist and inpatient psychiatry group therapist at the University of Vermont Medical Center and lead researcher of the study.

If you want to read the full article, you can find it here. There’s a lot of great information and content supporting this claim and it makes me happy to see that medical science is really pushing physical fitness as a prescription instead of just “pushing pills”.

Personally, I think helping treat anxiety and depression doesn’t just stop at moving your body! My own personal experience showed me that adding in a healthy and free-from processed foods diet, and reducing alcohol consumption are two another great ways and for helping alleviate anxiety and depression. For myself personally, it’s as simple as ‘when I eat like shit, I feel like shit’, both physically and mentally. And now there’s some science behind what a lot of us have been saying for years.

There are lots of studies coming out with supporting information about how inflammatory foods raise levels of anxiety and depression. Vincent Pedre, M.D., states that, “Inflammation causes oxidative stress (a form of biochemical stress), which leads to distress signals in the brain that can lead to either depression or anxiety—or both. On the flip side, we know that the brain will release cytokines (the same chemical messengers your immune system uses to communicate an alert) in response to mental stress. The cytokines regulate really important brain functions, including neurotransmitter metabolism as well as the connection and communication between nerve cells.”

These are things we preach at Stanley Boxing & Fitness; an overall healthy lifestyle. We don’t believe in fad diets, low-cal crash diets, magic pills, or special drinks! Just move your body daily, and eat a healthy well-balanced diet, and you’ll be healthy overall. When you break it down its quite simple; the hard part is committing and sticking with it, but that’s where professionals who have been through this, like myself, can help!

When I coach our Life Change Program, the first class of Life Change is always an orientation and talk about nutrition. At the end of the 75 min talk, I always end the first class with me talking about my struggles with food and anxiety over the last 30 years to show and share with the group about what I’ve been through. For years I’ve wondered if me taking a full class to talk about nutrition and my personal struggles with eating was the right approach to kick off this program, or should I just start kicking their butts right away in the gym… well, after my most recent orientation class I had a Life Changer come up to me and thank me for sharing my story about my anxiety and my struggles, and by the time I got home from the gym, I had an email from another Life Changer thanking me for sharing and for opening their eyes and mind, and helping them realize they have a lot they need help with with food, not just their fitness.

This is why I love what I do. Helping others is the most rewarding job I could ever have. As anxiety-ridden as I am, this stuff makes my heart happy.

So, should exercise be the new primary prescription for those with mental health problems? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor, and I’d never say take my advise over a doctors! BUT I can speak from my own personal experience and say that it 100% helps me. When my body is happy and my guts are happy, my brain is happy. And for those who are on medication for their mental health, I’d guess that moving your body and eating well definitely couldn’t hurt as a secondary support system.

Anxiety, depression, and mental health are no joke. If you have these feelings, make sure you talk to someone. If the first person you talk to doesn’t listen, talk to someone else! And if it feels like they aren’t listening, keep talking to people until you find someone who will listen.

Help is out there.

Don’t suffer in silence.