A lot of that comes from being healthy, though. Sleep well, exercise, eat well. Watch your anxiety drop, focus go up, motivation go up, happiness go up. The more you do it, the easier it gets, so then the more it improves, so the easier it gets, etc.
I think so many people would be surprised that many of their life’s problems and self-diagnosis or concerns of a mental problem can be resolved by exercising so they get an eppetite and are actually tired for bed time, rather than living with the fog and anxiety of doing nothing and not being able to get good rest.
The recently published link between mental health and insulin resistance is a really exciting area of research. Of course that is totally controlled by diet (insert debate about what a healthy diet is here)
You sound like RFK Jr. Yes most people in our modern world don’t get enough exercise, but it’s not a panacea. Exercise, sunlight, and clean eating alone won’t do more than nudge most chronic illnesses. Hell, the latest on ME/CFS is that exercise can actually worsen symptoms.
“All I needed was exercise and/or a healthier diet and I felt great!” folks were not truly ill to begin with, just slacking. There’s a huge difference, and insinuating otherwise is a giant slap in the face to those who’ve tried these things (and likely so much more) and are still struggling with debilitating health issues. To use a car analogy, regular oil changes and premium fuel won’t compensate for a broken axel.
It’s hard to sleep well when intrusive thoughts keep replaying your most traumatic memories, or when anxiety has your heart pounding too hard to fall asleep. It’s hard to exercise when just standing up feels like you are lifting ten times your weight and taking a shower would be an insurmountable achievement. And food? Sometimes pouring a bowl of cereal or ordering a pizza are all you have the mental wherewithal to accomplish.
“Have you tried… Exercising?” is quite a tone-deaf response to these matters at this point.
Of course it’s correlated with healthy living. Of course it helps maintain a healthy lifestyle with wonderful benefits for your mental health and anxiety. Sure!
However, when you’re not there (yet), and you have no idea how to get “there”, having someone go “Well actually, it’s not that hard, lol, just start exercising” isn’t helpful. To build such a healthy pattern requires more care and nuance than just the knowledge that exercising helps, or the willpower to drag yourself through the first few days of whatever initial exercise routine, hoping it magically kickstarts this wonderful, new life.
A lot of that comes from being healthy, though. Sleep well, exercise, eat well. Watch your anxiety drop, focus go up, motivation go up, happiness go up. The more you do it, the easier it gets, so then the more it improves, so the easier it gets, etc.
I think so many people would be surprised that many of their life’s problems and self-diagnosis or concerns of a mental problem can be resolved by exercising so they get an eppetite and are actually tired for bed time, rather than living with the fog and anxiety of doing nothing and not being able to get good rest.
The recently published link between mental health and insulin resistance is a really exciting area of research. Of course that is totally controlled by diet (insert debate about what a healthy diet is here)
You sound like RFK Jr. Yes most people in our modern world don’t get enough exercise, but it’s not a panacea. Exercise, sunlight, and clean eating alone won’t do more than nudge most chronic illnesses. Hell, the latest on ME/CFS is that exercise can actually worsen symptoms.
“All I needed was exercise and/or a healthier diet and I felt great!” folks were not truly ill to begin with, just slacking. There’s a huge difference, and insinuating otherwise is a giant slap in the face to those who’ve tried these things (and likely so much more) and are still struggling with debilitating health issues. To use a car analogy, regular oil changes and premium fuel won’t compensate for a broken axel.
It’s hard to sleep well when intrusive thoughts keep replaying your most traumatic memories, or when anxiety has your heart pounding too hard to fall asleep. It’s hard to exercise when just standing up feels like you are lifting ten times your weight and taking a shower would be an insurmountable achievement. And food? Sometimes pouring a bowl of cereal or ordering a pizza are all you have the mental wherewithal to accomplish.
“Have you tried… Exercising?” is quite a tone-deaf response to these matters at this point.
Of course it’s correlated with healthy living. Of course it helps maintain a healthy lifestyle with wonderful benefits for your mental health and anxiety. Sure!
However, when you’re not there (yet), and you have no idea how to get “there”, having someone go “Well actually, it’s not that hard, lol, just start exercising” isn’t helpful. To build such a healthy pattern requires more care and nuance than just the knowledge that exercising helps, or the willpower to drag yourself through the first few days of whatever initial exercise routine, hoping it magically kickstarts this wonderful, new life.