eli5: Why does working out helps so much with mental health?

Question

I have OCD and working out ALWAYS makes me feel better whenever I have spikes. How does that work?

In: 896

Answer 1

Physical activity produces serotonin and dopamine, the feel happy chemicals.

The reason is not super well understood, but the prevailing theory is that it’s evolutionary. Being active is good for you, being physically fit makes you more likely to survive physically stressful situations. So those who are more physically fit were more likely to pass on their genes. Some mutation somewhere along the line made someone feel good when they were doing stuff to get physically fit. And that was so advantageous that it’s in just about every single human on earth.