I have OCD and working out ALWAYS makes me feel better whenever I have spikes. How does that work?
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When I’m tired I only think about resting. My mind can’t go into those negative places cause I’m only thinking about going home to sleep
Never helped me, so I don’t have an answer. My mental health improved when I worked on it specifically. Alleviating symptoms doesn’t cure the sickness.
Serotonin and dopamine. As well as a whole other slew of chemicals that happen in response to using your muscles.
Because when you’re working out you’re thinking about how horrible it is and how badly you just wanna go home you don’t have time to think about anything else! Lol but in all seriousness it’s the endorphins that kick up in your brain. Walking, running, doing yoga, having sex. Your brain takes it the same way as doing drugs and it creates this calming effect.
Workouts are critical in releasing some hormones like dopamine, seretonin, endorphins. It helps reduce stress, pain and lack of concentration, which indirectly enables productivity and a sense of presence. To be present is to be happy!
I’ve always found that it makes my depression worse. Too much time in my own head to start thinking about how bad I am at whatever I’m doing. Boxing was the only thing that I semi-enjoyed because I had to constantly be thinking ahead to land punches correctly.
But things like treadmills, running, exercise machines were hell.
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Our brain evolved to respond to stressing factors in a specific way. Our stresses were mainly being hunted or needing to hunt after prey. Being chased/chasing something-> need to pump blood easier, so it eases blood circulation, heart beating faster, it stops digestion so you can focus on the priority of survival, etc. Once you stop and have a chance to rest, your body goes on the reverse to feel better, recover and regain the energy you spent.
That’s how our bodies are engineered to respond to a threat, to stress. Now try to ease your stress when it’s about your existential crisis, your financial state, your academic grades, your relationships. They are abstract factors that generate stress. The only way your body is engineered to respond to stress is by physical activity, and by reminding your body that it’s not under imminent physical threat(psychological tools such as grounding exercises).
At least that’s the main thing I remember from a psychology initiation class on the subject of stress and exercise.
Working out help with mental health because it releases chemicals in your brain called endorphins. These chemicals help you feel good and can improve your mood. Plus, when you’re working out, you’re not thinking about any problems or worries, which can give your brain a break and help you relax.
My father says the same thing, it actually has the opposite effect on me. I find working out keeps me in my own head where my anxiety and depression become exponentially worse. then all the self doubt starts ramping up and I usually end up giving up on trying to help myself through fitness.
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