On March 2, 2022, the World Health Organization announced, “In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%.” With so many of us struggling with mental health issues right now, accessible, simple options that can help us improve negative symptoms are especially important, such as physical activity. It’s an affordable self-help hack anyone can do. Although, many don’t.
Why is that? I suspect it’s partially because exercise advice often comes as a mandate without explanation: “Do more exercise, and you’ll feel better.” But why does physical activity work as a method to manage or improve mental health, specifically anxiety and depression symptoms? How much physical activity is enough to work? Is easy, gentle, and doable movement enough to make improvements, or does it have to be intense and strenuous? To help shed light, I consulted two exercise researchers—Brian Cook and Jessica Barker. (Click for full article)
