{"id":5031,"date":"2024-06-12T11:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T15:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=5031"},"modified":"2024-06-12T11:00:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T15:00:31","slug":"why-dont-americans-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/06\/why-dont-americans-exercise.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Don’t Americans Exercise?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Imagine barely being able to leave the house, experiencing prolonged depressive episodes with daily, sometimes hourly, panic attacks, and not being able to see the point in continuing. Many things helped you survive, like talking through it in therapy, which was like opening a pressure valve in your brain and allowing you to function just enough to get by. Medication had mixed results because you felt less panicky but also less excitement, joy and other essential emotions.<\/p>\n

Crying to friends gave temporary catharsis, but it wasn’t until you discovered Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing, that it felt as if day-to-day life might provide something other than hopelessness. Many of our collective crises \u2014\u00a0depression,\u00a0anxiety, unhealthiness, and\u00a0loneliness\u00a0\u2014 are made worse by the same thing: our tendency toward a\u00a0sedentary, shut-in lifestyle<\/a>. We live in a society that makes it extremely difficult to find the time and space to be active. An abundance of research shows that\u00a0exercise is good for depression<\/a>, and yet most of the time when I hear people talk about the mental-health crisis \u2014 on TikTok, on X, and in real life \u2014 it is rarely mentioned.<\/p>\n

It’s much more common to hear people talk about finding the right diagnosis, the right medication, and the right kind of therapy than it is to see people encouraging their loved ones to get outside. Many of us know exercise is good for us. All that’s left is getting up. The evidence is overwhelming that physical activity is good for both our bodies and our brains. A meta-review of studies that included 128,000 participants found that\u00a0exercise of any kind significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression<\/a>. There are several theories as to why this is: exercise could increase the availability of neurotransmitters like dopamine in the brain, or it could help the brain form new neural pathways that are helpful in escaping cycles of depression.<\/p>\n