Exercise can help you cope with upsetting experiences

Posted on May 4, 2016

In the research, people watched a sad film after either doing 30 minutes of moderate jogging or just some undemanding stretching.

The sad film made most people feel worse, but it was those who had been jogging before that recovered quickest.

The study’s authors explain that the participants who had recently completed 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise were less affected by these initial perceived difficulties with emotion regulation as they reported less sadness at the end of the study than those who did not exercise.

The authors conclude that their findings support preliminary research suggesting that physical activity helps people weather emotional stress. Not only does exercise give you physical energy, it also gives you mental energy to deal with upsetting situations. This could partly explain exercise’s beneficial effect on mood and depression.


Category(s):Depression

Source material from PsyBlog