One of The Alarming Situations That Is Currently Happening Within Today's Society
Some of the alarming situations currently happening in today's society are anxiety and depression. While depression presents emotions or feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and reduced energy, anxiety has feelings of fear/worries or nervousness. In other words, an individual who experiences anxiety tends to increase their chances of depression. Sadly, some people came across depression or anxiety due to COVID-19. On the other hand, bullying or school situation, a family matter(s), unemployment, a relationship/marriage conflict, or feeling unloved/lack of friends can lead to anxiety which can also open the door to depression. While the list can go on, we can conclude it is a heavy-handed situation. However, you're probably wondering how this has to do with fitness.
How Can Fitness Help You Overcome Anxiety & Depression
A while back, in one of my blogs (Having the Mindset to Achieve Anything in Life), I showed how our mind/thoughts influence our behaviors. In other words, the outcome of our day comes from how we think on that particular day. It can be hard to pick yourself up and be productive; believe me, I know the feeling because I was there two years ago (I'll share more on that experience a little later). However, taking those baby steps lead to change. You may not see or believe it; however, give it time, and soon you will see it. Recently, I read an article from the Mayo Clinic indicating how exercise or physical activities contribute to battling or easing depression and anxiety symptoms. For better clarification, whenever someone exercises, they aren't focusing on what's bothering them (taking your mind off the things that bring you worries).
Apart from taking your mind off things, working out or indulging in physical activity (for instance, walking) releases the feel-good endorphins. What does thing mean? This is when your body triggers a positive feeling which helps you have a positive or hopeful view of life. Let me ask you this; when you work out, even for fifteen minutes, do you feel good at the end? Don't you feel great when you hit a personal record, or don't you feel good about yourself when you stick to your diet? You probably do because you chose not to stay in the uncomfortable mindset environment. The crazy thing is that you don't sense it when exercising or doing physical activity. In other words, it's like your mind decided to turn that negative channel off without you even noticing.
Not only does the science prove this statement; however, I would encourage you to test it out. Whenever you feel low, go for a walk or go to the gym and lift some weights. The point is to get you out of those mental moments of depression and anxiety. You will be surprised how you'll feel when you leave the gym or come home from a walk compared to entering the facility or leaving your house. People who exercise 3x per week are less likely to experience depression, according to Alison Wade, who wrote about how exercise could lower the risk of depression.
My Experience with How Fitness Helped Me Win the Battle of Anxiety & Depression
Earlier, I mentioned how I struggled to get myself up due to a personal situation. I won't get into massive details; however, after experiencing a shattered heart, I didn't know how I would get up. I'll be honest; there were days when I didn't sleep, I didn't socialize with people (family and friends), I cried myself to bed, my face began to break out, and honestly, I even began to lose discipline when it came to my diet and training sessions. In other words, I fell off the wagon.
I didn't know how to get back up because the feelings were painful. I became anxious and wondered how this could have happened to me. I began to think or assume my life was reaching its end. In other words, I began to believe I would never be happy and that I was created and destined to live a depressed and anxious life. Thoughts of suicide began to creep in, but they didn't last long. While this lie followed me for almost two years, I had to get back up and start moving. I had to return to my old roots and find my passion; fitness. Fitness helped me build my body and removed my physical appearance insecurities back in college.
There is nothing wrong with taking a step back and observing where you're at in life. It can help you indicate where you fell off and assist you in redirecting your current path. In other words, once you know what went wrong, you can focus on rearranging your pathway to lead you to where you're supposed to be. When I compare this to my life, getting back into the gym, getting in physical activities, and setting goals to stick to my diet removed my anxieties. When I saw I was slowly getting back in the game, I started to feel good about myself. I was once again getting mentally healthier.
YOU GOT THIS
While there were other things I did to help me remove those feelings, fitness and physical activities had their contributions. It can be hard to express your feelings to someone but hearing how someone who once faced what you're currently facing can make a difference in someone's life, even yours. In other words, if this is you, I hope you found hope and encouragement to seek the help you need. Also, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU IF YOU ARE FEELING THESE EMOTIONS. I know many people wouldn't agree with what I just said; however, people need to be heard, and one of the best ways to do that is having someone speak of their experience because it can resonate with how the other person is currently feeling.Yes, it is a battle to get back in the game or to stay there while the war in your head/life feels like it is getting worse; however, one of my favorite movies (Lone Survivor) has this famous quote, "you are never out of the fight." I believe everyone has the strength to continue fighting. We all have our battles (including me), but that doesn't mean it has to conquer us. If you're still alive and reading this blog, you're still fighting. You're still winning.
