Anxiety, Depression Can Be Eased with 150 Minutes of Exercise a Week
- Researchers say exercising for 150 minutes a week can help ease mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.
- They said people who exercise outdoors get more benefits than people who exercise indoors.
- They added that there are mental health benefits to both team sports as well as individual activities.
- They cautioned that more isn’t necessarily better, so a moderate amount of exercise is best for most people.
Matt Nerger was 6 when he first tried sports and, like for many youngsters, it was overwhelming.
He cried for hours leading up to his first soccer game at the spacious indoor Soccer Centers complex in New Jersey.
Just thinking about being on the field with all those other kids caused him excessive anxiety, nausea, and outright fear.
But in the end, he put the scariness aside, took the field, and had a good time.
He also learned a lifelong lesson about how exercising his body is good for exercising demons.
“Team bonding and learning how to work with others was crucial in my development into adulthood,” said Nerger, who now works as a writer. “Sports helped me destroy some of the barriers that my anxiety created.”
Scientists agree that physical exercise — either solo or in a team environment — not only helps our bodies look and function better, it can effectively battle mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.