Exercise and Mental Health

Research illustrates a close link between exercise and mental health. Papers custom written by Paper Masters will tie the links together and present clear evidence of a direct link between exercise and a person's mental health.

Exercise has numerous benefits for health. It not only promotes activity to ensure heart health, but also guards against any number of diseases and can encourage other healthy habits as well. For some, exercise is a form of stress relief and provides an outlet for daily frustrations. For others, it represents a hobby and a fun way to pass the time. However, among these benefits is the benefit to mental health.

• People struggling with depression and other mental disorders can benefit immensely from exercise for a few reasons.
• Stress doesn't have a chance to accumulate as quickly or as much with exercise as a physical outlet for emotional and mental frustrations.
• Those that exercise release endorphins into the brain, which are "feel good" hormones. This promotes a sense of well-being in individuals that may otherwise have challenges feeling good emotionally and mentally.

Exercise also falls under the umbrella of self-care, something that many people fail to do when keeping up with the demands of modern life. When people who are struggling with mental health challenges start taking care of themselves through exercise, they find other ways to engage in self-care as well. They create time and space for themselves to the same degree that they may take of others and otherwise neglect their own care. People who exercise may use this as a new way to meet people, which is also a benefit to mental health.

There are many different studies out there on the benefit of exercise. The human body was not made to have a sedentary existence. Throughout the centuries, nature has dictated how much physical activity people had. Physical activity was part of living; both hunting and gathering, hoeing a field, or escaping predators, human beings were forced by circumstance into exercise.

There is evidence to show that even with all of this forced activity, many cultures added exercise as a leisurely pursuit as well. Exercise did not just help cultures with being physically fit but also was a political and social avenue to compel change. The ancient Mayans, made elaborate ball courts in which to play games. Many of our games that we play now have long histories including rugby, lacrosse, and soccer. Even our newer games such as baseball and American football were created more than a century ago as a way in which to foster comradity.

In recent years though, with the coming of the industrial followed by the technological age, exercise no longer was something that was forced. Inventions, such as the automobile and airplane, helped people to travel long distances without investing much effort. With each new invention, more time and energy were freed. People who were always used to some form of exercise turned to leisurely pursuits more to release excess energy. Sports became even more popular during this time.

With the beginning of the technological age, exercise and the perceived need for it slowly declined. For many people, exercise had become a form of entertainment and technology brought many new forms of entertainment from televisions to video games. These new forms of entertainment did not cost much and also did not force an expenditure of energy. With the change in technology, there also became a change in cultural habits. Many of the new changes including less physical active jobs because of the use of computers, more time devoted to work and less time for other activities, included in this was the commute back and forth to work. Many people began to prioritize and found that exercise was a low priority. With the change in culture, also came a change in how children were raised. Exercise is a learned activity. With fewer hours to devote to their children and to their own physical activity, many parents stopped teaching their children about the benefits of the activity. Video games and television became the mainstay of entertainment for many children. Toward the end of the 1980s, schools even began changing to stop making exercise a top priority leading to a decline of exercise in children. These children grew into adults that did not place enough emphasis on the effects of exercise or non-exercise on the body.