Lagunas 1

Edward Lagunas Jr

ENGL 1302-223

Dr. Sharity Nelson

22 April 2022

The Importance of Exercise for Mental & Cognitive Health Disorders

Exercise has been a refutable method for maintaining physical health for centuries. As of

late however, it has been found to improve coping with anxiety and depression and has even

been noted to be a necessary component for human development among many scholars. "There

is empirical support for the role of exercise, defined as structured physical activity aiming to

increase or maintain fitness, as a treatment and protection against depression" (Henriksson et al.,

27). In addition to the mental health benefits provided, it has been discovered to provide the

benefits of improving and lowering the risk of cognitive health disorders such as dementia and

possibly Alzheimer’s disease. "When levels of depressive symptoms reach clinically meaningful

thresholds, they become associated with increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and

AD dementia…” (Perin et al., 559). In spite of support from experts, there is still some unknown

aspects of exercise as a coping mechanism such as exercises effectiveness in the long-term, other

benefits besides mental health improvements, and how exactly does exercise improve mental

health issues and what exactly causes exercise to help with cognitive health disorders. This paper

seeks to examine and answer these unknowns while arguing for exercise as an effective and

proper alternative coping mechanism to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In addition, this

paper will observe and compare the research done by scholars on other coping mechanisms to

support exercise as an alternative coping mechanism, and to further expand upon what exercise
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can do to individuals with mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety and cognitive

disorders such as dementia.

For example, many scholars have shown support for exercise as an effective coping

mechanism for mental health disorders. "There is empirical support for the role of exercise, …,

as a treatment and protection against depression." (Henriksson et al., 27). Correspondingly,

Gosselin et al. discovered "… changes in exercise were associated with changes in physical

quality of life …; individuals who engaged in more exercise demonstrated greater physical

quality of life improvements versus those who exhibited no change." (Gosselin et al., 370).

Exercise is shown to have a more outstanding physical quality of life change in individuals who

suffer from depression and anxiety. It is important to note that besides improvements in mental

health, exercise also brings about physical changes to the body, which can help improve the self-

esteem of individuals, which leads to improvement in self-confidence. However, some have

argued that other coping mechanisms such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are more effective

in reducing the effects of depression and anxiety. "Adolescents who had received psychological

treatment reported a significantly greater reduction in symptom severity than controls, …" (J.

Baker et al., 773). As stated by the scholarly authors, it was reported that some adolescents who

had received Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a form of treatment were found to have

reduced their symptoms; however, CBT cannot be relied upon due to many factors one prevalent

one being the wait times to be seen by a medical physician. "…long waiting lists for CBT may

worsen symptoms and long-term prognosis." (Henriksson et al., 27). As stated, CBT may

possibly worsen the symptoms that come with depression and anxiety due to the waitlist for this

coping mechanism leading to it being less effective than exercise as Cognitive Behavioral

Therapy relies on the support of a psychologist to improve mental health disorders.

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On the other hand, social interactions also play a factor in the mental state of individuals

"Changes in family/friends engagement were associated with changes in social quality of life, …,

individuals who exhibited greater family/friends engagement demonstrated a greater social

quality of life improvements versus those who were less engaged." (B. Holt-Gosselin et al., 370).

As the researchers have noted, social activity is another form of coping with anxiety and

depression, solidifying social interactions as a proper coping mechanism. However, exercise is

still the more effective method due to several factors not considered, such as socialization

phobias like social anxiety. Social phobias prevent many from interacting with the world around

them and can even lead to increased depression and anxiety levels within individuals. "…only

10.1% of participants with baseline comorbid depression-anxiety were consistently recovered,

26.0% of the anxiety-only group were consistently recovered, and 32.2% of the depression-only

group were consistently recovered." (E.C. Solis et al., 1272). Due to a low number of individuals

improving and maintaining their depression and anxiety, socialization can not be a viable form of

coping with mental health disorders due to the phobias associated with these mental health

disorders, i.e., social anxiety. In addition, since anxiety often includes social anxiety and

depression often involves clinical depression, individuals who face these mental disorders are

prevented from interacting socially in multiple environments causing social interaction to be less

effective compared to exercise.

Besides the factors that play into the effectiveness of a coping mechanism, one factor

remains prevalent today, the COVID-19 pandemic. "We identified 4.0% and 10.5% of the

sampled respondents as cases that are at-risk for excessive mental distress due to coronavirus

anxiety and obsession, respectively." (J.H. Chen et al., 1135). Researchers have found that

COVID-19 does lead to an increased risk for anxiety and depression, making many forms of
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coping less effective in the long run today. This leads to lower engagement in all activities across

the board for coping mechanisms such as social interactions and exercise; however, exercise can

be an exception due to the varying amounts of exercises available to the individual to perform at

home. "Participants in the lowest physical activity category (no reported physical activity) had

the highest depression and anxiety scores compared to each successive physical activity category

across…" (Young et al. 3). The research concluded by young et al. found that during the

COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals who had reported no physical activity during the

pandemic were found to have had the highest depression and anxiety scores compared to those

who were exercising. This exemplifies the importance of exercise in an individual's life as it

helps reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression, again solidifying its importance as a

coping mechanism.

Although the effectiveness of a coping mechanism is essential in determining what better

suits the individual, there is also vital importance in the benefits provided. "…individuals who

engaged in more exercise demonstrated greater physical quality of life improvements versus

those who exhibited no change." (Gosselin et al., 370). Researchers have found that exercise

brings forth the benefits of physical quality of life changes, improving an individual's health

drastically. "Their TSA profile more closely resembles the consistently positive and linear

trajectory of the euthymic group, though it is lower overall and appears to be associated with a

negative bias regarding their past, present, and future selves." (Y. Sokol et al. 337). Research

done by scholars shows that individuals with depression and anxiety do often improve in self-

perceptions over time. However, with the inclusion of exercise, it is possible to boost these

effects as exercise brings forth the physical quality of life changes such as weight loss, muscle

gain, muscle toning, and other benefits that are not of importance. With these benefits in mind, it
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is possible for an individual to gradually improve their self-reception, leading to increased

confidence and improvements in depression and anxiety.

On the other hand, with exercise being as effective as it is in reducing depression and

anxiety, it also carries the possibility of reducing dementia risk "When levels of depressive

symptoms reach clinically-meaningful thresholds, they become associated with increased risk of

mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD dementia, with risk ratios ranging from 1.05 to 4.39"

(Perin et al., 559). Research shows that depression, especially at the clinical stages, carries the

risk of increased cognitive issues and possible dementia. With exercise, it is possible for an

individual can lower this risk and improve cognitive function, making it a more beneficial coping

mechanism than cognitive-behavioral therapy.

In all, exercise is just as if not more effective as a coping mechanism than cognitive-

behavioral therapy and social interactions. The ability to improve an individual's physicality,

confidence, self-perception, depression, and anxiety alone is a fantastic benefit that makes

exercising a worthwhile activity for individuals. In addition, the ability to lower the risk of

cognitive disorders such as dementia are significant benefits provided by exercise, which makes

this coping method more wonderful. However, the looming presence of the COVID-19 pandemic

has made this form of coping a little less effective compared to the day and age of the research it

was recorded, but that does not make the validation of this coping mechanism any less viable.

Furthermore, exercise should also not be viewed as a cure for these mental and cognitive

disorders; instead, it should be looked at as a proper form of coping with the everyday distress of

depression and anxiety; to clarify, exercise is not the end all be all for treating mental and

cognitive health disorders. Instead, it is a form of treatment that should be used in conjunction
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with other treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and social interactions to improve

the everyday health of an individual.

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Works Cited

Baker, Holly J., et al. “The Effectiveness of Psychological Therapies for Anxiety Disorders in

Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis.” Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, vol. 24,

no. 4, 2021, pp. 765–782., Springer Link, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-021-00364-2.

Chen, Juliet Honglei, et al. “Measuring Covid-19 Related Anxiety and Obsession: Validation of

the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale and the Obsession with Covid-19 Scale in a Probability

Chinese Sample.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 295, 2021, pp. 1131–1137.,

ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.104.

Henriksson, Malin, et al. “Effects of Exercise on Symptoms of Anxiety in Primary Care Patients:

A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 297, 2022, pp. 26–

34., ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.006.

Holt-Gosselin, Bailey, et al. “Greater Baseline Connectivity of the Salience and Negative Affect

Circuits Are Associated with Natural Improvements in Anxiety over Time in Untreated

Participants.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 295, 2021, pp. 366–376., ScienceDirect,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.039.

Perin, Stephanie, et al. “Elucidating the Association between Depression, Anxiety, and Cognition

in Middle-Aged Adults: Application of Dimensional and Categorical Approaches.” Journal

of Affective Disorders, vol. 296, 2022, pp. 559–566. ScienceDirect,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.007.

Sokol, Yosef, et al. “Anxiety and Temporal Self-Appraisal: How People with Anxiety Evaluate

Themselves over Time.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 296, 2022, pp. 309–314.,

ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.081.
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Solis, Ericka C., et al. “The 9-Year Clinical Course of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders: New

NESDA Findings.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 295, 2021, pp. 1269–1279.,

ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.108.

Young, Deborah Rohm, et al. “The Longitudinal Associations of Physical Activity, Time Spent

Outdoors in Nature and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety during COVID-19

Quarantine and Social Distancing in the United States.” Preventive Medicine, vol. 154,

2022, p. 106863., ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106863.