Beat Depression with Exercise

In today’s society, the demands of everyday living can prove increasingly stressful. Trying to balance demands from home, work, relationships and so on, can prove overwhelming to say the least. If we are not careful, these kinds of daily pressures can result in extremely high levels of stress, creating additional problems and complications in our lives. Without the proper attention, unmanaged stress can cause an individual to struggle with bouts of depression.

Several studies have proven that physical exercise is a great way to help reduce the effects and beat depression. Many health experts insist exercise can work better in beating depression than many of the anti-depressant medications. As such, for those coping with mild to moderate levels of depression, adding some form of exercise can serve to effectively remediate symptomology. Exercise is said to work in the same manner to beat depression as many prescribed anti-depressants because exercise has the same mood boosting effect as these medications. Although exercise will not be an instant remedy to beat depression, you will start to notice a significant difference when incorporating exercise into your regular routine. Some studies have even shown that individuals who exercise are less likely to have a recurrence of depression than those who are being treated with some prescription medication.

Following are some ways exercise helps to beat depression:

• Boosts self-esteem: Regular exercise will not only lead to an overall feeling of well being, it will generally result in better health which will in turn lead to the body changing in positive ways. Feeling better about one’s self physically may help to decrease depressive feelings thereby beating depression.
• Endorphins are released: Exercise stimulates the body to release a chemical substance into our bodies called endorphins, which triggers our bodies and our minds to feel an overall sense of well-being.
• Decreases social detachment: By getting involved in a regular exercise or in an exercise program, individuals are more likely to socialize with others. Increased positive interaction and camaraderie can help beating depression easier.
• Health improvement: People generally feel healthy overall when they are involved in a regular exercise program.

For some, the idea of getting out of bed in and itself can seem like a lot when you are battling with depression. So the notion of participating in some kind of physical activity may seem overwhelming. However, it doesn’t have to be so. The key to incorporating exercise into your preventative program for beating depression is to start small and work your way up to exercise being a regular part of your routine.

Following are a few suggestions for physical activity you can become involve in. Try one of these activities and when you start to feel comfortable with your chosen routine, then you can try different activities for greater variety.

• Walking
• Jogging
• Bike riding
• Aerobics
• Swimming
• Weight lifting
• Dancing
• Housework
• Tennis
• Yoga

A strong social support system is extremely important for people who are living with depression. Becoming a member of a group exercise program to beat depression may prove to be beneficial. Also valuable suggestions in beating depression can be found from the support group. If not, choosing to exercise with a close friend or your partner may be a good option. By doing so, you are sure to benefit from the physical activity along with the emotional comfort of knowing that others are supportive of you.