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Exercise. It's the silver bullet.

by jddil 4y ago

ryanklee 4y ago
I promote exercise as an excellent way to combat and prevent anxiety/depression/etc., but calling it a silver bullet is just wrong. Some people can do all the right things and still feel like absolute shit at the end of the day. There are wars that cannot be won.
causi 4y ago
Yeah, and it doesn't have to be "exercise" exercise either, just exertion. Go work in the yard. Repair your house. Reorganize your stuff. Build some shelves. Change your own oil and rotate your own tires. Just do things that involve moving your body.
vjk800 4y ago
I don't have the source at hand, but I read somewhere that in many hunter-gatherer societies, pretty much all people walk 15-20 kilometers every day. Coincidentally, this is approximately equivalent to the the amount of exercising I need to do calm my anxiety down. Maybe anxiety is just some kind of exercise-deficiency. After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  > After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that. Muscle contractions function as the heart for our second circulatory system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system A few animals have an actual second heart for that, but we don't—we have to move to make it work well.
FollowingTheDao 4y ago
No, it's not, not for everyone. Exercise induced anxiety is real for many people. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033318286726224 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003331828...
- janeerie 4y ago
  Thank you for this. There are multiple comments in this thread saying exercise is the "silver bullet," but if you have a severe anxiety disorder, it often isn't. I am much less anxious on the days I don't exercise. I still do it nearly every day because I want to stay healthy. What works for me? Good old SSRIs. They are my silver bullet.

Exercise. It's the silver bullet.

by jddil 4y ago

Exercise. It's the silver bullet.

I promote exercise as an excellent way to combat and prevent anxiety/depression/etc., but calling it a silver bullet is just wrong. Some people can do all the right things and still feel like absolute shit at the end of the day. There are wars that cannot be won.

causi 4y ago

Yeah, and it doesn't have to be "exercise" exercise either, just exertion. Go work in the yard. Repair your house. Reorganize your stuff. Build some shelves. Change your own oil and rotate your own tires. Just do things that involve moving your body.

vjk800 4y ago

I don't have the source at hand, but I read somewhere that in many hunter-gatherer societies, pretty much all people walk 15-20 kilometers every day. Coincidentally, this is approximately equivalent to the the amount of exercising I need to do calm my anxiety down. Maybe anxiety is just some kind of exercise-deficiency. After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that.

yamtaddle 4y ago
> After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that. Muscle contractions function as the heart for our second circulatory system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system A few animals have an actual second heart for that, but we don't—we have to move to make it work well.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago

No, it's not, not for everyone. Exercise induced anxiety is real for many people. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033318286726224 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003331828...

janeerie 4y ago
Thank you for this. There are multiple comments in this thread saying exercise is the "silver bullet," but if you have a severe anxiety disorder, it often isn't. I am much less anxious on the days I don't exercise. I still do it nearly every day because I want to stay healthy. What works for me? Good old SSRIs. They are my silver bullet.