Mental Health and Exercise : There are any Connections? between Mental Health and Exercise

These days we know very well that the body exercise promotes healthier body and better sense of well-being for our life style and healthy living. It boosts confidence for the people who need newer self image while it prevents the aggravation of physical illnesses for some.

While nearly all of the research on exercise is focused on demonstrating positive effects on the physical body, there is a growing mass of research that seeks to prove that exercise is good for mental health as well. Recently a study conducted by the researchers from the Duke University along with other similar studies proved that exercise could help treat depression for 72% of all the participants. This result is similar with the total number of participants who are using medications for their treatment from depression.

However, you don’t have to be a sufferer of a mental illness before you benefit from exercise. You can boost your sense of well-being while walking on the treadmill or by combining yoga and meditation. In a way, exercise could be used as a potential medium for preventing the development of psychological and emotional conditions.

There are three dimensions at which we could look at when examining the benefits of exercise in the mental wellness of a person. Among the less well known is the biological aspect. One theory suggests that physical workout or exercise could stimulate a part of the brain to release endorphins. Activities that are more likely to trigger the release of endorphins are swimming, cross-country skiing, running, bicycling, aerobics and sports like soccer, football and basketball. Endorphins are comparable to opiates in a way that they resemble morphine.

Endorphins could work in two ways- as a pain reliever (which is produced in response to the stresses brought about by physical work or stress) and as an enhancer of well-being. There are, however, no definite data that could support this claim. On the other hand, exercise is also found to trigger the release of hormones norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. All these are known to help improve mood and is actually the main effect of Prozac, a known antidepressant. Increase in these hormones could be best observed in a condition known as "runner's high". This is the feeling during after an acute exercise is directly linked to the increased number of the said hormones.

However, there are still no conclusive studies proving that improvements on mood could be facilitated for a longer period of time. Another is the physiological aspect. Nearly all of the feelings we associate with mental wellness come from our personal evaluation of the way our body feels. Say for instance, if you perceive a stomach pain as a form of stress then you will feel stressed (and sometimes even depression) every time your stomach aches.

Likewise, exercise could render feelings such as muscle relaxation and easier breathing which we associate with "feeling better". While this correlation is yet to have a better scientific grounding, we still could not deny the fact that muscle tension and increased blood flow go together with physical fitness. No one knows yet how exactly exercise affects mental health. But it is common among patients to view exercise as a good medium to elevate their moods.

In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Charity Mind nearly two-thirds of all people who said that they use exercise to relieve symptoms of stress and depression believe that exercise actually works for them. The scientific community is yet to understand how this happens though and for now, it remains a truth that people benefit from exercise for mental health...

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How do you improve your mental health?

When most people think of health, they immediately think about physical health. Many make the mistake that ensuring the body is physically healthy is all a person needs to be healthy. While it is true that being physically healthy can impact a person’s mental health in a positive way, there are many people out there who suffer from poor mental health even though they are relatively physically healthy.

The fact is that a person’s mental health is just as important as a person’s physical health. Both go hand in hand with keeping a person happy and their body healthy. Think about how some people are when they have poor mental health? Their bodies tend to suffer as a result, whether it is by gaining excessive weight or they have developed a devastating addiction; both of these can lead to poor physical health.

Good mental health is extremely important if one wishes to ward of depression. However, if one believes they are suffering from some depression and are feeling unhappy or sad most days, there are some things a person can do in order to improve their mood and their mental health. The first is to get enough sleep.

It can never be stressed enough that the average person in North America just doesn’t get enough sleep. The lack of sleep can lead to fatigue and emotional behavior. It is also important that a person eat well. If the body isn’t getting the right nutrients or vitamins, a person’s mental health can be negatively affected because the body is lacking what it needs. Exercising can also improve a person’s mood and mental health.

Changing up the regular routine or going out more with friends can also go a long way in improving the mood. There are some people, however, who have a difficult time improving their mood and their mental health and the above suggestions don’t seem to work. It could be that the depression is being caused by some issues from the past, could be a hereditary condition or it could be that the person has been depressed for so long they don’t know how else to act.

If any of these situations are the case, then consulting an online therapist might be a good idea. All one has to do is go online, do a quick search and then contact a therapist who is offering their services online. Online therapy is becoming so common these days because it is convenient and it is an easy way of getting help without having to leave the home.

Most people feel more comfortable with staying in there own home and consulting through online counseling. An online therapist can easily work with the patient to find out what might be causing their depression and they can then help the patient get out of their depression.

Many people who have participated in online therapy for their depression have been successfully treated and are living better lives as a result. Anyone who believes they might be depressed and don’t know how to get out of it should contact an online counselor...
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Yoga - Improves Your Mental and Physical Health

The whole system of Yoga is built on three main structures: exercise, breathing, and meditation. The exercises of Yoga are designed to put pressure on the glandular systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health.

The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world, and so a Yoga student treats it with great care and respect. Breathing techniques are based on the concept that breath is the source of life in the body.

The Yoga student gently increases breath control to improve the health and function of both body and mind.Just as your body temperature increases to fight infection, the increased room temperature will help improve T-cell function and the right functioning of the immune system. The most important plus points, perhaps, are the mental health benefits.

You will enjoy more willpower through restraint, self-discipline, focus and willpower. Besides, the effects on the stress in one's life and how one manages it are unbelievable. You will pick up techniques to help you control your reactions to the stress stimulants you encounter throughout the day.Psychologists have long known that moderate exercise is good for depression and anxiety. Such exercise can easily be found in Yoga practice.

Yoga postures are designed to promote physical strength, flexibility and balance. Anyone who has ever taken a Yoga class will attest that there are cardio/heart benefits to be had; your heart rate is frequently up while performing postures much as it would be if you were performing more conventional exercise.

Though Yoga gets your heart rate up and your endorphines pumping, it also provides for many rest periods. These rest periods lend a gentle quality to the conditioning that makes it easier to endure than 'marathon' style exercise. You seldom feel as though you can't go on.With yoga therapy, you can easily discover your inner self, be aware of what is actually going on in your mind and clear your mind of all the accumulated clutter.

You can learn to concentrate, dissolve your worries and improve physical disorders with the help of yoga. If taken seriously and practiced regularly, one can feel immediate health improvements, as well as tone the figure and lose weight.

There is no perfect time to start yoga. As the wise say "It is better late than never", you can start yoga as young and as old as you want. In case, you plan to practice yoga late in your life; it will strengthen your heart promote cardio vascular endurance and reduce the effects of arthritis while improving flexibility, blood flow and bring relief to minor joint pains. Yoga can cure many illnesses and you must trust this age-old tradition to benefit from it.Yogic practices that reduce anxiety tend to reduce anxious eating. In addition, yoga deep breathing increases the oxygen intake to the body cells, including the fat cells.

This causes increased oxidation or burning up of fat cells. Yogic exercises induce more continuous and deeper breathing which gradually burns, sometimes forcefully, many of the calories already ingested.Yoga improves fitness, lowers blood pressure, promotes relaxation and self-confidence, and reduces stress and anxiety.

People who practice yoga tend to have good coordination, posture, flexibility, range of motion, concentration, sleep habits, and digestion. Yoga is a complementary therapy that has been used with conventional therapies to help treat a wide range of health problems, but it is not a cure for any particular disease...

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How to Beat Depression through Diet and Nutrition and Say Goodbye to Anti Depressants Forever..

In an age where anti depressants have become one of the most widely prescribed drugs on the market, more and more people are asking how they can beat depression naturally to avoid the risks and side-effects associated with SSRI’s and other anti depressant drugs. There is a strong case to support hormonal factors, diet and nutrition as being the driving force behind the widespread incidence of depression and other mental health disorders, commonly seen today. Mounting evidence suggests that outdated diet and nutritional advice such as encouraging high carbohydrate and low fat diets is in fact, a major cause of depression.

High carbohydrate diets have also been linked to heart disease, Type II diabetes and obesity. Low fat diets deplete the body of cholesterol, an essential nutrient for the nervous system and for the production of hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. Deficiencies of these hormones produce the mental and emotional changes commonly seen in premenstrual and menopausal women and male andropause (i.e. fatigue, apathy, irritability, sadness, depression, anxiety and insomnia).

Cholesterol is the building block of all hormones and low levels are very dangerous for mental and heart health. One of the best food sources of healthy cholesterol are eggs. Egg yolks contain healthy HDL cholesterol and lethicin, which helps the body to emulsify the fat and metabolize it very easily. On top of this, eggs are a nutritional powerhouse and contain a vast array of B group vitamins essential for mood and energy, in addition to amino acids which are essential for promoting a calm and content disposition.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein foods. They are found in foods such as meat, fish, nuts and beans. One amino acid in particular, Tryptophan, is a direct precursor to serotonin, a feel good neurotransmitter in the brain often deficient in people with depression. The best food source of this nutrient is the Alaskan Sea Lion with a massive 2,500mg of Tryptophan, but of course I’m not advocating that it be hunted because of it. A better source might be seaweed algae; Spirulina has 641mg of tryptophan.

Alternatively, you can try soy protein isolate which has 660mg, frozen spinach which has 594mg or raw watercress which has 545mg. Tryptophan as a supplement has not been available for sale in Australia for some time. However, it has recently been reintroduced to the US where it is used for weight loss and depression. The next best thing (if dietary sources are inadequate) is a nutrient known as 5HTP.

This is a direct precursor to tryptophan. This is available from your local Naturopath on prescription in a product known as Proxan. This product also contains another powerful mood enhancing nutrient known as SAMe, in addition to B vitamins. This has been known to improve mood within days without any dangerous side-effects or withdrawal symptoms commonly associated with prescription anti depressants. (Please note this cannot be taken while taking anti depressants.) Stress is another major cause of depression today.

After the adrenalin rush that accompanies a stressful event (having an argument with the dishwasher, your spouse or boss) the body releases the anti-stress hormone cortisol to calm the body down. However, stressful events are not isolated incidents in our lives so this hormonal balancing act is taking place every waking second of your day.

This can eventually lead to adrenal exhaustion and abnormally high cortisol levels. This has been clinically proven to shrink the hypothalamus, the part of the brain which governs emotions and behavior. High cortisol levels also deplete the body of serotonin faster. However, the serotonin deficiency is really due to an excess or cortisol or too much stress. Eating a diet with a good amount of protein spread throughout the day in addition to good quality fat (ie nuts, olive oil, butter, fish oils) will go a long way towards supporting the nervous system and mental health in general...

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Causes of Depression

Therapy may be provided by your health-care provider or by a specially trained mental-health professional.

• Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have completed specialized training in mental disorders.• Psychologists have graduate (after college) training that includes experience in a mental-health-care facility.

• Psychotherapists may have a degree in medicine (psychiatry), psychology, social work, mental-health counseling, or couples and family therapy, as well as additional more specialized education or training.

Regardless of which is used, psychotherapy, medication, or a combination, most people with depression can safely be treated in a series of office (outpatient) visits. Inpatient care (in the hospital) may be necessary for people with more serious symptoms and is required for those who are contemplating suicide or cannot care for themselves...

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Identifying And Intervening Clinical Depression

An estimated one-third of the total population is suffering from clinical depression and the number is continually rising. By the term "clinical depression", it doesn’t mean the transient blue mood that simply goes away but a disorder that needs medical attention.

Stressors such as a loss or a trauma may instigate clinical depression but there are those afflicted by the condition due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.

Treatment and intervention may therefore include medications to correct the imbalance and therapy to sort out emotional and psychological issues. Other than that, peer and family support are also essential for a person to totally overcome clinical depression.

Depression is a potentially deadly disease as it robs the person of hope and enthusiasm being beset by overwhelming pessimism, sadness and sometimes anxiety. As such, clinical depression at worst can trigger thoughts of suicide or even suicide attempts.

Depression symptoms vary from person to person although there are general indications to look for. According to the degree and severity of the condition, professional help must be sought so a psychiatrist or psychotherapist can administer the appropriate treatment measures.

Intervention is usually more effective and the recovery speedier once clinical depression is addressed in the initial stages.

What are the general symptoms of clinical depression to be on the lookout for?

One must be keen in ascertaining those symptoms not only among family members or friends but within oneself as well. One must be aware of unexplained crying or being overcome by unhappiness or a saddened mood. A person with clinical depression may also lose their enthusiasm in whatever used to give them pleasure and tends to persistently sulk. Insomnia might likewise be prevalent.

It is either that the patient will have little or no sleep at all or has the tendency to oversleep yet a poor quality of sleep at that. In fact, they may feel as though they never slept at all. Consequently, the patient feels fatigued, tired and worn out.

This is usually accompanied by loss of energy. Restlessness and agitation and feeling the urgency to do things immediately are also manifestations of clinical depression.

Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand or in some cases they are experienced separately. Some depressive patients tend to relieve their depression by overeating thereby gaining weight or others may lose their appetite and forget to eat because of preoccupation with distressing
thoughts therefore they lose weight.

Poor concentration and difficulty in focusing on simple tasks may also be indications of clinical depression. One usually feels sluggish and may go about doing things in slow motion. Clinical depression may also instigate irritability, being upset or frustrated as well as trigger unfounded feelings of anger.

It may be sensible to seek professional help once these symptoms manifest in a loved one or friend or in oneself to ascertain whether one is afflicted with clinical depression. In moderate cases, the symptoms may be tolerable but there is no arguing that depression can deprive an individual of total well-being and a good quality of life therefore a professional’s assessment may be necessary.

Clinical depression is treatable as long as one takes the initiative to address the problem and soon, one’s zest and enthusiasm will be restored making life more fulfilling and worthwhile...

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