Do (some) mentally unstable people heal themselves with excessive exercise/fitness?

[Anonymous]

First, I’m not a troll. Next, this may be the wrong forum. And I am not saying all very fit people must have underlying mental issues.

I have a coworker who is very assertive and seems to get in a foul mood for days at times she misses her exercise routine (usually work commitments). I have an acquaintance who is a very fit marathon runner who seems to be a narcissist (multiple social media posts) and snaps at her husband like he’s the help. There was a recent thread asking if thin people feel superior to less fit people. I know of the runners high and the endorphins released from exercise. But can excessive exercise be used to treat mental issues?

[Anonymous]

Yes, exercise can help with certain mental issues. And people who have addictive tendencies can get hooked on exercise. But for most people, exercise is part of a treatment plan, not a cure

[Anonymous]

You seem to indeed be implying that unstable people exercise a lot, and based on your examples it doesn't work.

I know people who exercise due to anxiety. I know people who exercise due to family history of heart disease. I know people who exercise because they always exercised, playing on different sorts of teams as kids.

[Anonymous]

I don't think narcs who are not self-aware they are narcs(which is one in a million) can heal themselves. She is running for another reason, probably to compensate for her non-existent self-esteem.

As for anxiety, my DS has it; he is now a young adult. He was in "pro"-level junior sport. He attended a sports academy full-time and attended school there from eighth grade till college. Played his sport in college all four years.

DD was also in sports in elementary and high school, doing HS cheer and high-level competitive team cheer, gymnastics, and figure skating; she has ADHD.

I know that being in these sports was life-saving for my kids. They are both employed and high-functioning in their fields and are successful young adults.
So, I don't think it can cure it, but it can definitely be of great help.

[Anonymous]

It helps does not cure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, exercise can help with certain mental issues. And people who have addictive tendencies can get hooked on exercise. But for most people, exercise is part of a treatment plan, not a cure

Completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Exercise helps immensely with my anxiety. I don't snap at anyone when I can't exercise as my anxiety has always been internalized (not sleeping, eating poorly, panic attacks in my car, feeling like I'm going to crawl out of my skin, poor motivation)

[Anonymous]

It helps to forget what bothers them, but it will come back.

[Anonymous]

There are somewhere on the order of a bazillion studies demonstrating the mental health benefits of frequent physical exercise. Everybody functions better with consistent exercise.

As for somebody “snapping” at work. Maybe they smartened up after the pandemic and realized work is BS and they are not willing to allow work to unnecessarily get in the way of what actually matters to them. Meanwhile, a subset of people who have nothing else important to do (like actually spend time with they family) still think their white collar job matters and continue to seek some kind of fulfillment through it instead of living life.

Beyond all that, we have evidence in the form of western metabolic health that the biggest problem is people coping through poor and frequent food an alcohol consumption. So on balance, I think we would rather people be addicted to exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, exercise can help with certain mental issues. And people who have addictive tendencies can get hooked on exercise. But for most people, exercise is part of a treatment plan, not a cure

The same can be said of alcohol use/addiction, workaholics, religious fanaticisms/church attendence/devotion to faith, having a bunch of children, using drugs, orthorexia, etc, etc. In short: life is hard and we do what we can to cope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exercise helps immensely with my anxiety. I don't snap at anyone when I can't exercise as my anxiety has always been internalized (not sleeping, eating poorly, panic attacks in my car, feeling like I'm going to crawl out of my skin, poor motivation)

+1 but I really notice a diffence when I miss a walk or exercise session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, exercise can help with certain mental issues. And people who have addictive tendencies can get hooked on exercise. But for most people, exercise is part of a treatment plan, not a cure

The same can be said of alcohol use/addiction, workaholics, religious fanaticisms/church attendence/devotion to faith, having a bunch of children, using drugs, orthorexia, etc, etc. In short: life is hard and we do what we can to cope.

^This.

[Anonymous]

I really wouldn't put it like that.

I'm a research scientist in biology.

Plenty of people need exercise to reduce aggressive impulses. When you consider that humans started as hunter-gatherers, perpetually on the move, then turned into laborers to develop agricultural societies... our very recent and very rapid change into desk jockeys has not been accompanied by as radical a change in physique or brain development. The societal change occured too fast for evolution to change our bodies and minds.

So plenty of humans are still built for physical exertion, and do poorly if that outlet is denied.

The needs of modern society for higher-level organization and planning are creating evolutionary pressure to elevate certain humans who do well with sedentary lifestyles, and who are less reactive and more cerebral than their ancestors. But that process is an extremely slow one.

There is a wide, wide range of normal in the exercise needs of modern humans.