Benefits of exercise on mental health

5 BENEFITS OF EXERCISE ON MENTAL HEALTH

Exercise has been proven to be not only effective for aerobic capacity and physical health but also have major impact on mental health of the human being. It is found to improve emotional strength, well-being, coping strength and improvement in mental well-being.

Today, we will discuss about such 5 benefits of exercise on mental health:

1.CONCENTRATION AND ATTENTION: Exercise is found to be helpful in increasing concentration and alertness. When you are more alert, you can attend to other parts of your life better and more productively. Physical activity boosts brain to release neurotransmitters that has an effect on focus and attention.

2. MENTAL ILLNESS: Exercise is proven to help in improvement of mental health and have an impact on mental illness.
Physical activity helps in increasing the endorphins level – “feel good” hormones in the human body that is produced by brain and spinal cord.
Exercise is scientifically proven to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms. Exercise activates changes in brain and leads to new activity patterns in the brain that helps in increasing the feeling of calm as well as improving the well-being.
In anxiety, it helps in focusing instead of zoning out.
In ADHD, physical activity helps in attention and concentration. Physical activity also helps in distraction.

3. SLEEP: Regular exercise is found to be very helpful in having a better and sound sleep. And a better sleep has a direct impact on level of concentration, memory, mood and your physical health along with mental health. Better sleep also helps in attending to your daily life problems with more.

4. STRESS: Reduced stress levels are another mental advantage of exercise, which can make us all happier. By encouraging the creation of neurohormones like norepinephrine, which not only enhance cognition and mood, but also clear thinking muddled by stressful experiences. Also increase in your heart rate can help in curing stress-induced brain damage. Exercise also makes the sympathetic and central neural systems of the body interact with one another, enhancing the body’s capacity to handle stress.

5. INCREASED SELF-ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE: There are no shortage of physical benefits that result from regular exercise such as from enhancing endurance to shedding pounds and building muscle. All these accomplishments can combine to greatly increase one’s sense of self-worth and the confidence that follows.
You probably didn’t set out to get the capacity to climb a hill without getting out of breath, but it happens without our notice. It’s only one of the numerous advantages of exercise for your body, mind, and spirit. Hence, due to exercise, we learn better coping capacity and better confidence in oneself to accomplish goals.

Other benefits of exercise are outlet of frustration, opportunity to socialize and get social support from others, increase in your energy levels, improvement in mood and help in reducing skeletal muscle which helps you feel more relaxed.

Any exercise is better than none. Be that having leisure walks, taking stairs instead of elevator, dancing, swimming, yoga or gym. If you don’t have time, sweeping and mopping to clean your house that can help you exercise but also help in cleaning your house.

Author: Muskaan Agarwal (Counseling Psychologist)