How Exercise Can Calm Anxiety
July 19, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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A new study revealed that exercising creates new, excitable
neurons along with new neurons designed to release the GABA
neurotransmitter, which inhibits excessive neuronal firing,
helping to induce a natural state of calm
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While the creation of excitable neurons via exercise would
ordinarily induce anxiety, exercise fixes this problem by also
creating calm-inducing GABA-releasing neurons
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The mood-boosting benefits of exercise occur both immediately
after a workout and continue on in the long term
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In addition to the creation of new neurons, including those that
release the calming neurotransmitter GABA, exercise boosts
levels of potent brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine, which may help buffer some of the effects of
stress
By Dr. Mercola
Exercise is known to create new excitable neurons in the
hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in thinking and
emotions.
This would suggest that exercise might induce anxiety in
physically active people, but, ironically, research shows
that exercise is associated with reduced anxiety and
calmness.
The reason for these seemingly incompatible exercise
effects was recently explored by Princeton University, who
appear to have revealed, as the New York Times put
it, “an eye-opening demonstration of nature’s ingenuity.”1
Exercise Creates New Excitable Brain Cells… and Quiets Them
When Necessary
Newly formed ‘young’ neurons can be prone to easy
excitement, making them quite efficient at inducing anxiety.
Physical exercise creates excitable new neurons in
abundance, which is beneficial in the long run, but would be
expected to increase anxiety rates in the short term.
However, a new animal study comparing running mice with
sedentary mice found that while the exercising animals’
brains ‘teemed with many new, excitable neurons,’ they also
contained new neurons designed to release a neurotransmitter
called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA inhibits
excessive neuronal firing.
This helps to induce a natural state of calm.2
Commonly prescribed anti-anxiety drugs like Ativan, Xanax
and Valium actually exert a calming effect in this same
manner, by boosting the action of GABA.
Exercise appears to go one step further, however, as when
the mice were later exposed to a stressful situation, the
study found that the exercising mice, as opposed to the
sedentary mice, responded with only an initial rush of
anxiety, followed by calm. What all of this suggests, one of
the study’s authors noted:3
“ … is that the hippocampus of runners is vastly
different from that of sedentary animals. Not only are
there more excitatory neurons and more excitatory
synapses, but the inhibitory neurons are more likely to
become activated, presumably to dampen the excitatory
neurons, in response to stress.
… I think it’s not a huge stretch to suggest that
the hippocampi of active people might be less
susceptible to certain undesirable aspects of stress
than those of sedentary people.”
Exercise Can Be a Key Anti-Anxiety Treatment
Some psychologists swear by exercise as a primary form of
treatment for depression, anxiety and other mood
disorders. Research has shown again and again that patients
who follow regular exercise regimens see improvement in
their mood -- improvements comparable to that of those
treated with medication.
The results really are impressive when you consider that
exercise is virtually free and can provide you with numerous
other
health benefits too. The benefits to your mood occur
whether the exercise is voluntary or forced, so even if you
feel you have to exercise, say for health reasons,
there’s a good chance you’ll still benefit.
For instance, researchers at the University of Colorado
Boulder devised an animal study to determine whether rats
that were forced to exercise would experience the same
stress and anxiety-reduction as those who were free to
choose if and when to exercise.4
The rats exercised either voluntarily or forcibly for six
weeks, after which they were exposed to a stressor. The
following day, their anxiety levels were tested by measuring
how long they froze when placed in an environment they’d
been conditioned to fear. The longer the rats remained
frozen, like “a deer in headlights,” the greater the
residual anxiety from the previous day’s stressor. According
to the lead author:5
"Regardless of whether the rats chose to run or
were forced to run they were protected against stress
and anxiety. The sedentary rats froze for longer periods
of time than any of the active rats. The implications
are that humans who perceive exercise as being forced —
perhaps including those who feel like they have to
exercise for health reasons — are maybe still going to
get the benefits in terms of reducing anxiety and
depression."
What Type of Exercise Is Best for Anxiety?
If you struggle with anxiety, you really can’t go wrong
with starting a comprehensive exercise program – virtually
any physical activity is likely to have positive
effects, especially if it’s challenging enough. That said,
Duke University researchers recently published a review of
more than 100 studies that found yoga appears to be
particularly beneficial for mental health.6
Lead author Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of
psychiatry and medicine at Duke University Medical Center
told Time Magazine:7
“Most individuals already know that yoga produces
some kind of a calming effect. Individually, people feel
better after doing the physical exercise. Mentally,
people feel calmer, sharper, maybe more content. We
thought it’s time to see if we could pull all [the
literature] together… to see if there’s enough evidence
that the benefits individual people notice can be used
to help people with mental illness.”
According to their findings, yoga appears to have a
positive effect on:
- Mild depression
- Sleep problems
- Schizophrenia (among patients using medication)
- ADHD (among patients using medication)
Some of the studies in the review suggested yoga can have
a similar effect to antidepressants and psychotherapy, by
influencing neurotransmitters and boosting serotonin.
Separate research also found that three months of regular
yoga sessions resulted in less anxiety and depression, with
anxiety scores falling from an average of 34 (on a scale of
20-80) to an average of 25.
However, while recent studies support the use of yoga to
improve common psychiatric disorders (along with providing
many other health benefits, such as promoting flexibility
and core muscles, alleviating back pain, and more), I think
it’s important to incorporate a variety of
exercises into your routine for optimal health results.
Ideally, you’ll want a
comprehensive fitness program that high-intensity
interval training like
Peak Fitness and resistance training as well, in
addition to flexibility and core-building exercises like
yoga or
Foundation Training.
The Mood-Boosting Benefits of Exercise Are Both Immediate
and Long-Term
Rather than viewing exercise as a medical tool to lose
weight, prevent disease, and live longer – all benefits that
occur in the future – try viewing exercise as a daily tool
to immediately enhance your frame of mind, reduce stress and
feel happier. One study found, for instance, that while many
people started an exercise program to lose weight and
improve their appearance, they continued to
exercise because of the benefits to their well-being.8
In addition to the creation of new neurons, including
those that release the calming neurotransmitter GABA,
exercise boosts levels of potent brain chemicals like
serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which may help
buffer some of the effects of stress. Many avid exercisers
also feel a sense of euphoria after a workout, sometimes
known as the “runner’s high.” It can be quite addictive, in
a good way, once you experience just how good it
feels to get your heart rate up and your body moving.
Best of all, these mood-boosting benefits are both
immediate and long-term. The featured study found that the
exercising mice still responded with increased calm even
when they hadn’t exercised for 24 hours.
“The runners’ wheels had been locked for 24 hours
before their [stress-inducing] cold bath, so they would
gain no acute calming effect from exercise. Instead, the
difference in stress response between the runners and
the sedentary animals reflected fundamental remodeling
of their brains,” the New York Times
reported.9
What does this mean for you? Adding a regular exercise
program to your life is likely to make you feel good each
time you exercise plus enhance your mood, lessen
anxiety and induce more feelings of calm in the future, too.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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