If you’ve ever been in a funk and noticed that you feel calmer after taking a walk, it’s no coincidence. Experts say physical activity offers one of the quickest and most effective ways to improve your mood and mental health.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time that calls for advocacy and support for mental health issues. With one in five adults and one in six youth experiencing mental illness in any given year, it’s important to take a proactive approach to education and outreach. Part of that involves promoting healthy coping strategies, including physical activity.
Feel Better, Naturally
Exercise can increase self-esteem and decrease stress levels, says Taylor Lackey, a Nurse Practitioner with ThedaCare Behavioral Health. Physical activity releases endorphins in the brain, which are feel-good hormones. It also improves sleep quality.
“Physical activity can enhance cognitive function by improving blood flow in the brain,” Lackey says. “It can be as effective as anti-depressant medications.”
Jessie Schnell, a Nurse Practitioner with ThedaCare Behavioral Health, agrees.
“Many of our mental health challenges might go away if we moved our bodies more and got seven to nine hours of sleep every day,” she says. “We might not need any anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medications on a regular basis.
Schnell says she encourages her patients to aim for 30 minutes of “intentional movement” each day. Examples include walking, biking and swimming. Everyday activities such as gardening, mowing the lawn and household chores can prove beneficial as well.
Additional Exercise Benefits
Science backs the exercise-mental health connection. People with sedentary lifestyles have higher rates of death at younger ages and increased health care expenditures, according to the National Institutes of Health. Exercise improves attention, focus, memory, cognition, language fluency, and decision-making, the research states.
Experts say regular exercise also can help you take your mind off your worries and offer additional benefits, including:
- Gaining confidence. Getting in better shape can make you feel better about your appearance.
- Connecting with others. Joining a local gym, YMCA or exercise group may give you a chance to meet or socialize with others.
- Coping in a healthy way. Finding positive ways to manage depression or anxiety can help you feel better about yourself.
How to Begin
Government health guidelines recommends getting 150 minutes of exercise per week, including at least two days of strength training. That guideline may feel like a lot, so start with modest goals.
“I think it’s beneficial to spread out your activity over the week so it becomes part of your lifestyle and routine,” Lackey says. “Then you’ll experience the benefit of those feel-good hormones more often, too.”
Starting and sticking with an exercise routine can feel daunting, especially if you’re already struggling with a mental health challenge. Lackey and Schnell recommend these strategies:
- Find something you enjoy doing. You’re more likely to stick with an activity you enjoy — and it will feel less like work.
- Get professional support. Talk to your health care provider or mental health professional for suggestions and support.
- Set reasonable goals. Think realistically about what you may be able to do. Make your plan fit your needs and abilities.
- Don’t think of exercise as a chore. If physical activity is another “should” in your life, you’ll think of it as failure when you don’t accomplish it. Instead, think of it as a tool that can help improve your mental health.
- Consider what keeps you from success. Figure out what’s holding you back and find resolutions to those obstacles.
- Prepare for setbacks. Give yourself credit for every step you take in the right direction, no matter how small.
Start Small
You don’t have to train for marathon. Small steps can lead to big gains.
Washing your car, walking the dog, or playing outside with your kids or grandkids all count, Lackey says. Find ways to add small amounts of physical activity throughout your day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park a little farther away from work to fit in a short walk. If you live close to your job, consider biking to work.
Schnell often recommends walking pads as an option for people who find it hard to fit exercise into their schedule.
“We live in Wisconsin, so our weather isn’t always the greatest for walking outside, and people can’t always get to a gym,” she says. “A walking pad is a simple, small device to use in your home. Many are under $100. Turn on your favorite TV show and walk for 30 minutes, and you’ve got your movement in for the day.”
When the weather does cooperate, exercising outdoors offers even more mental health benefits. Studies show that people report higher levels of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem after walking or exercising outdoors.
Positive Ripples
When you embrace healthy habits, you can create a chain reaction. For example, Schnell stresses the importance of setting an example for children.
“Behavior is learned,” she says. “Kids will naturally increase their activity level if they see the adults who are responsible for them exercising and being physically active. We need to set an example for them so they’ll grow up physically and mentally healthy.”
Lackey shares a final recommendation for getting started: Reframe your thoughts around exercise.
“I like to encourage my patients to think of exercise as celebrating what our bodies can do rather than something we have to do,” she says. “That puts a whole different spin on why we’re doing it and helps us appreciate what we can do. Our abilities change throughout life. Focusing on the positive side of what we can do is much more encouraging.”
Help is Within Reach
If you or someone you care about is struggling with a mental health or substance use issue, ThedaCare Behavioral Health is here for you.
Learn more about our treatment options, or visit ThedaCare Behavioral Health Walk-in Care, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
