Everybody knows that exercise will help you physically, making you strong, fitter and giving you more stamina. It will also help raise your metabolic rate, which will help you loose weight and keep weight lost. But not many people know the mental effects of exercise.

Exercise gives a natural ‘high’, this is because it makes the brain release different chemicals, serotonin, dopamine, nor epinephrine and endorphins all of these are known to have strong effects on your mood, they can help to reduce feelings of anxiety, stress and they can also help stop you feeling depressed. One of the main benefits of using exercise to help lift depression is that you can start to feel the effects instantly, where as drugs can take several weeks to have an effect. Also if you are more active you will be able to sleep better, since a lot of sleep problems are linked with depression which will certainly help straight away.

If you do a lot of exercise you will not only look fitter and healthier you will feel healthier and fitter. Exercise will help you gain a more positive image of yourself; in turn this will boost your self-confidence and your self-esteem. This also means that you will be able to socialize with more ease. Regular exercise will also help reduce your stress and tension levels. It will also help you clear your mind, which in turn will help you relax and unwind in the evenings rather that dwelling on those problems you might have. Another helpful factor of exercise is that it will boost your energy levels, a lot of people who are depressed often lack energy. When you forced yourself to go and do some exercise a few times you will soon see the difference in how energetic you feel.

Researchers at Duke University, Carolina, USA, studied people who were suffering from depression for four months. The found out that 60% of the participants who exercised for 30 minutes, three times a week, overcame their state of depression without using any antidepressant drugs. It was the same percentage rate as those who only used medication to help treat their depression. Another survey carried out by the charity Mind in 2001 found out that 83% of people who have mental health problems looked to exercise to help them lift their mood or to help them reduce their stress and tension levels. Two thirds said that exercise helped them to reduce stress and anxiety. 6 out of 10 of the respondents said that physical exercise helped them to improve how motivated they were. 50% also said it boosted their self-esteem and 24% said it help improve their social skills and they were able to interact with more ease.

Before you start on any exercise program, it is always highly prudent to check with your physician that there are no underlying illnesses.