Can Exercise Help People Cope With Depression? | Guest Post By Jessica Ann
Depression has become very apparent to most individuals nowadays. For some reason, there are a lot of things and factors that cause this mental illness. Even so, there are a lot of ways as well that one could do in order to fight depression.
Depression and Its Symptoms
Strictly speaking, depression or major depressive disorder that affects a person’s thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and perspectives. And for people who are suffering from this mental disorder, there is a feeling of sadness and disinterest on things that used to make them feel happy and good. The usual symptoms of being depressed include agitation, irritability, and anger. And aside from these emotions, there are people who complain about physical pains as well such as headache and stomachaches. Sleep, energy, and appetite are also negatively affected when you are suffering from depression. As it appears, many would testify that a depressed individual would no longer need to take phentermine prescription to suppress the appetite as depression can naturally do this. Of course, this is a bad thing. This is why people who have this kind of mental disorder are always recommended to have therapies and other ways to treat and ultimately heal depression.
Depression: Healing and Coping Up
The truth is – it is very hard to fight depression. Many individuals attest that it takes years to fight and heal from this disorder. In fact, there are those who also claim that healing and coping up is impossible. Nevertheless, it only goes to show that depression affects people in various ways. Hence, healing and coping up vary depending on the person. According to studies, there are numerous natural and effective ways to fully heal from it. And one of which is exercising.
Exercising Works
It is already common knowledge that exercising is very beneficial not only to one’s physical health but also to one’s mental health. As it happens, it is found to revolutionize the quality of an individual’s life. For some reason, exercising offers benefits that one can only obtain from doing it regularly. As for depression, it has been revealed by many experts and specialists that exercising essentially helps people fight against depression and other mental disorders. If you are wondering how does this happens, here are some points that you may dwell on to understand how exercising can help you cope up with depression:
- Exercise Successfully Helps Deal with Stress
It is worth noting that stress is one of the contributing factors to depression. Too much stress can dramatically worsen the condition. This is why people who are fighting against it are typically advised to stay away from a stressful environment as much as possible. As for exercise, it is already known that doing it regularly can help you decrease and minimize stress on a daily basis. This is because exercise increases the production rates of your happy hormones and naturally decreases the stress hormones. As a result, people who exercise regularly are found to have much fewer stress hormones. Accordingly, it helps people cope up with depression much easier.
- Better Physical Health Mean Better Mental Health
Your physical health is very much connected to your mental health. This is why the foods and drinks that you consume daily do not only affect your physical health. But, it also affects your mental state. Consequently, being in a bad shape only denotes of having a bad mental state as well. If you really want to deal with your depression effectively and cope up efficiently, then you must make sure to take good care of your body. And exercising is one of the best ways to keep you in good shape inside and out.
- Helps to Boost Confidence
Did you know that exercising is a natural confidence booster? Apparently, it has been found that people who exercise regularly are much more confident with almost everything. With the way they look, talk, walk, move, and perceive things, confidence is always apparent. When an individual is suffering from depression, confidence is also affected. As a matter of fact, depressed people are normally shy and would not partake in any social gathering as the aspect of confidence is not there. But thankfully, this factor can be dealt with since exercising regularly largely helps boost confidence.
- Helps to Get Better Sleep
Depression, as mentioned, negatively impacts the quality of sleep. There are times that a depressed individual would find it hard to gather a good night rest and sleep. But since exercising has been found to effectively help you get better sleep every night, many therapists actually recommend utilizing various exercise routines and workout sessions to those who are experiencing depression.
- Helps to Boost Brainpower
When you are in a depressed state, your brain would not function at its optimum state. Unfortunately, the brain, along with its cognitive functions, is very much affected as well when you are depressed. But even so, exercising can naturally help you boost almost every function of your brain. Generally, it is also common knowledge that exercising benefits the brain and its functions. It also improves and boosts brainpower. This is because the blood circulation will flow normally and healthily to the fitting parts of your brain which then results in better functioning.
- Increase Relaxation
Depressed people are almost always restless and tired. It’s like a cycle. The more restless and tired a person is, the more he is prone to depression. And when depression strikes, the energy levels and the ability to rest calmly are negatively affected. But just like in the aspect of getting better sleep, exercising can also increase relaxation. As it happens, this is also one of the main reasons why depressed individuals are asked to incorporate several exercise routines in their daily living.
Final Thoughts
All in all, exercising is just one of the many effective ways to cope up and deal with depression. But while there are also other ways to improve and eventually heal your physical and mental state, exercising is the most natural option which can also improve and benefit other aspects of your health and life.
** The thoughts reflected in this blog piece are those of the individual author and do not reflect the views of Please Live.