Why is Exercise Good for Your Mental Health?
And what’s the “right” amount or way to exercise for a healthy brain? Your Therapist Friend shares the surprising science challenging old ideas of “fitness”
Welcome to another edition of Ask Your Therapist Friend! I’m Kayla, a licensed therapist (LMSW), answering the internet’s questions about mental health, relationships and how to get the most out of going to therapy. Today we’re tackling myths about how (and how much) to exercise to reap the most mental health benefits.
A 2018 study of CDC data for over 1.2 million Americans found that people who engage in regular exercise self-report an average of 43.2% fewer days of poor mental health than those without a regular exercise routine.
This works out to be almost a whole weekend every month! Over a year, that’s about two and half weeks of feeling great instead of feeling sad, anxious or depressed.
“For some people exercise works as well as antidepressants, although exercise alone isn’t enough for someone with severe depression.” — Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
