Arianna Castro

Mrs.Jenkins

AP language and composition

February 22, 2023

Senior project

Pound, pound, pound. “Just keep going, just keep going.” “Strength, strength, strength,

strength.” All that I am focused on is the word “strength” at the back of the gym wall, pushing

myself to keep running, feeling the sweat drip down my face. But as the sweat drips I feel the

tension go away; the helpless feeling vanishes and the shaking stops. My anxiety eased for just a

small amount of time. My anxiety started 10 months ago when my grandmother died. I

remember walking past a bunch of California poppies, the vibrant orange color bouncing off the

back of my retina. The flowers were beautiful and they were her favorite. I felt my whole entire

body start to uncontrollably shake, my teeth chattering and my mind racing. In those helpless

moments I would start crying and give up, believing that there was nothing I could do to help

myself. As this intense feeling happened more often, I learned that this was an anxiety response

and for days I would have these attacks.

When teenagers talk about their anxiety people automatically jump to the conclusion that

they should cure it with medication, or that teenagers are just over dramatic. Mental health issues

are not something we can just cure with medication or blame on one thing. For every person

anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental health issues do not look the same. There

are many different ways to combat these issues and help yourself without jumping to medication.

I found that exercise helped my mental health issues which is why I want to study: How does

exercise help improve one's physiological and psychological well being?

 When people think of exercise they think of the physical effects it has on our bodies,

however exercise also has a huge impact on our brain chemistry. Exercise can help with

chemical imbalances inside the brain that affect our moods. Chemical imbalances are the cause

of a lot of mental health disorders, such as bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. Exercise is

proposed to help improve some of these symptoms because of, ¨exercise-induced increase in

blood circulation to the brain and by an influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)

axis and, thus, on the physiologic reactivity to stress¨ (Sharma). There are different parts of our

brain that control our hormones, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is where a huge part of

the stress hormones are produced, by exercising it helps keep that area of the brain more

controlled and puts your mind at ease. Exercise produces a wide variety of beneficial hormones.

For instance, ¨Physical activity activates the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, often

referred to as the "happy hormone" (Kaiser). Dopamine is the chemical that is associated with

happiness. By releasing just a small amount of dopamine it can help ease a person's symptoms of

depression or anxiety. People are quick to jump to medication for depression or anxiety however,

¨Studies show that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressant

medication—but without the side-effects, of course¨ (Robinson). When put into the predicament

that a cure is necessary to combat issues like depression or anxiety, it is important to note that

exercise is an alternative option to medicating. Doctors say, even just moderate exercise

throughout the week can improve depression and anxiety, so much so that some doctors

recommend trying out an exercise regimen for these conditions before turning to

medication¨(Walden university). Doctors believe that moving to medication should be the final

step in combating mental illness issues, doctors recommending working out to patients just

illustrates the impact it can make. This way of treating mental health issues has been around
forever, in the book The Medical Advisor. The complete guide to alternative and conventional

treatments states, "A relaxation response can be induced by many different techniques, including

meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, qigong and hypnotherapy"(The Medical Advisor). These types of

exercises have been practiced a lot within Chinese culture.

Even though exercise and aerobic activity is a great way to address issues with mental

health, exercise needs to be on a routine basis for it to work as a solution. When exercise is not

implicated as a routine for someone who is struggling, research has found that, ¨physical activity

affected the participants’ mood afterward, but mood didn’t affect the amount of physical activity

they engaged in later¨ (Merikangas). People need a thorough understanding of the concept, and

like any other solution, exercise needs to be implanted as a routine. A routine will show a

struggling person the huge benefits that exercise can bring, rather than random exercise. A

person can acknowledge that their mood is better after they exercise once. However that is not a

long lasting solution if only done once, this is why by getting into a routine it allows for exercise

to reach its full potential to benefit a struggling person. A huge downfall with the exercise

remedy is that people who are struggling with mental illness tend to fall unmotivated and

lethargic because of their illness. However, an exercise routine that will aid mental illness does

not require working out seven days a week but, ¨Doing 30 minutes or more of exercise a day for

three to five days a week may significantly improve depression or anxiety symptoms. But

smaller amounts of physical activity — as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time — may make a

difference¨ (Five-Mental-Benefits-of-Exercise). For people with anxiety, adhd and ptsd it is also

often found to be good to implant certain routines into their daily lives. This makes the exercise

not only great for the chemical effects but it helps them get into a routine that will put some

stability into their lives. In an interview with psychotherapist Marsha Lewis, she worked as a
private practice therapist. When Lewis was asked what she recommends to patients who are

dealing with anxiety and depression she explained, “For depression I ask people to agree to walk

10 minutes in the fresh air. All I want for them is 10 minutes, developing the habit and getting

into the routine of just getting out of bed for people with depression is very helpful. Getting the

commitment for no more than 10 minutes helps them. The serotonin increase is the thing that

helps them the most”. A lot of people use exercise as a stepping stone to get out of the depression

they are in. Lewis said it is the first thing in which she recommends to get people out of a funk.

When people are working hard or going through a traumatic experience they tend to not

prioritize their wellbeing, the most common activity that people seem to not prioritize is exercise.

Linda Alva, a pilates and yoga instructor in Irvine who has her own private process did the

opposite of this. In an interview Alva talked about her grieving process with her son she stated,

“every day I think about what should I do for my mental health, I always have to exercise and

rest¨. A huge part of Alvas grieving process was being able to exercise in her studio whenever

she was not feeling great, exercise was her escape. She recommended the type of exercise you

should do:anything that will make you feel really present in the moment¨. In another interview

talking with a therapist Marsha Lewis she addressed the same concept stating, “For anxiety

exercise is a fabulous form of distraction for the worried wandering mind”. Getting an anxious

and depressed mind distracted from their on going issues is an essential goal and starts to get

them more healthy mentally. Alva talked about how exercise not only helps with chemicals

within your brain, it also helps you understand your breathing. If you know how to handle your

breathing you can calm yourself down with the breathing. Although there were a lot of days she

lost a lot of motivation she expressed, “When I started not being able to exercise, I actually

started feeling depressed, there was no difference from my routine other than not working out”.
Her body was so used to exercising that when she had the routine and effects of exercise taken

away from her, she felt more depression.

Due to the benefits from exercise on the mind and body the effects of not exercising are

detrimental. For a person struggling with mental illness, the issues that can occur from not

exercising can only make their conditions way worse. It is proven that, ¨Without even low-

impact fitness, our brain can feel sluggish and tired, making it difficult to muster up motivation

or deliver on responsibilities and deadlines” (Tiger). Exercise leads to a higher motivation, clears

the mind and in some cases helps people solve problems. Exercise not only helps mental illness

but in a broad spectrum helps with general mental wellbeing in fact, “Regular physical activity

can help you sleep and feel better, reduce the risk of some common cancers, and add years to

your life” (CDC). Exercise has many beneficial effects, this is why not exercising can really

decrease a person from unlocking the full potential that their body has to offer. Not only does

exercise aid the chemicals within your brain, it affects a person's self esteem, “Self-confidence is

tied to how you feel about yourself. If you are not exercising, you may be overweight and have a

poor self-image, which can cause depression. A lack of exercise can leave you feeling physically

weak and unable to fulfill work duties efficiently or take up new hobbies”(Johnston). Low self

esteem issues can not only lead to issues like depression, but a lot of times lead to other mental

health concerns such as eating disorders. By exercising and aiding your bodies physical state this

helps your self esteem and gives you a small protection from those intense issues of disordered

eating.

Aerobic activity has obvious profound effects on the state of what our bodies look like.

Physical activity gets people to the body goals that they are trying to achieve and helps people

with their self esteem. It is commonly stated that, “Regular exercise helps build confidence by
improving our body image. While exercising you’re likely to strengthen and tone your body, and

seeing these results can greatly improve your self-esteem and help you feel better about the way

you look”(Five ways exercise boosts self confidence). However disordered eating can be closely

tied to unhealthy exercise behavior. Some of the most intense mental illnesses are the different

types of eating disorders that people can form. The disorder called anorexia athletica is

characterized by intense compulsive exercising. Like everything else in the world, too much

exercise can cause a lot of issues within one's body. The issue is people do not seem to recognize

this issue until it is too intense. It is important that when people get into a good exercise regime

they do not fall victim to these types of issues, studies show that, “Anorexia athletica can be

caused by many of the same contributing factors as eating disorders such as distorted body

image, societal pressures related to body appearance, mental health diagnoses, etc”(Ekern). The

same way that too little exercise can cause an issue within the body and mental wellness, too

much exercise can cause an intense problem on your body and mental wellness. This is why it is

important for your wellbeing as a whole to practice healthy exercise habits. There are many types

of eating disorders however, and some eating disorders can be eased and aided by physical

activity as well. For example, “ results show it’s not necessarily bad for people with disordered

eating to engage in exercise. The effects on self-esteem, depression, mood and body image can

reduce the risk of eating pathologies¨(UF Study). People believe that eating disorders and

exercise are constantly a bad mix together, however when people are dealing with bad self image

issues it is important to see how exercise can help improve their body image. People with eating

disorders need many ways to help aid them back into a healthy view of themselves, so that they

no longer feel the compulsion of doing unhealthy eating habits.

 Peoples self confidence in very important when it comes to keeping them mentally

healthy, without any self confidence people start to constantly doubt themselves and get into a

funk. People who exercise have an advantage because a healthy amount of exercise is good to

make people feel self confident and comfortable within their bodies. It is important to find this

confidence within yourself because, ¨Without confidence, you may never venture out of your

comfort zone and reach your utmost potential. With a healthy level of confidence, you can be the

best version of you. Confidence is a belief in your ability to succeed – a belief that stimulates

action¨(Marinell). People who are going through mental health issues fall into unmotivated

slumps. This is why the combination of lack of confidence and mental health issues are not a

good combination. Physical activity can help both of those issues and ¨ During forms of physical

exercise, we experience little moments of success, which naturally boosts our confidence. You

walked 10,000 steps today? SWEET! Do another 5,000 tomorrow and that’s a goal in

itself¨(Marinell). Small accomplishments and physical activity is enough to give people the

motivation and pride within themselves. If one is even able to accomplish a small goal fitness

goal, that feeling of accomplishment can bring up dopamine and serotonin levels within their

brains.

The most commonly noted benefit from exercise is its affects that is has on the physical

state of the human body. People who regularly exercise have much healthier bodies and with a

healthier body people tend to feel better physically. When you feel better physically, your mental

state is in a completely different mode than if you were not feeling good on a physical level.

Having a good amount of endurance can make your life so much better and, “Regular physical

activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise delivers oxygen

and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently”(Myo
Clinc staff). When your cardiovascular system is working better everything in your body runs

more efficiently, spreading oxygen throughout your whole body is a very important way to keep

your brain and body's behavior up. Regular aerobic activity has so many effects that, “Studies

show that physical activity can reduce your risk of dying early from the leading causes of death,

like heart disease and some cancers”(Benefits of exercise). The many effects of physical activity

can boost your life's longevity and bring you many more benefits for when you are older such as

stronger bones and muscles. In the interview with Alva she stated, ¨for senior citizens they love

doing pilates and feel really confident within their bodies¨. It is especially important for senior

citizens to have confidence within their bodies as well, and exercise can be an amazing way to

achieve that.

Physical activity has been used for centuries as a way to help people who were feeling

under the weather. Even before studies were done on exercise people understood that just a small

amount of exercise can achieve a ton of different effects on your body. Exercise does so much

more than just help the physical state of your body, it is important to know from all people that

exercise is a key component of keeping your mind at ease. With benefits that help all sorts of

mental health issues from depression to eating disorders, adding exercise into your regular

routine will greatly impact your wellbeing. Physical activity greatly impacts one's self

confidence and mental capacity, and even just a small amount of exercise everyday can make a

difference. Exercise is a key component to keeping people's lives healthy, and should be

regularly regarded as a great way to help ease issues of mental illness.