The Mental Benefits of Exercise
Rather than turning to alcohol or drugs, seek out the mental benefits of exercise

When faced with stress or sadness, do you turn to alcohol, tobacco or other substances for a quick, feel-good boost? Have you thought about what that could be doing to your physical and mental health? As an alternative, you could use the mental benefits of exercise to help you feel calmer and happier, but in a healthy way.

Alcohol and stress

Many people use alcohol as a way to cope with stress. While one or two drinks after work with friends can be a way to unwind, when you use alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress, it can set you up for addiction and other negative effects.

In a piece for PsychCentral, Steve Bressert, Ph.D., writes:

“High levels of stress may influence drinking frequency and quantity. This relationship between stress and drinking even is stronger when alternative coping mechanisms and social supports are lacking. Finally, when individuals believe that alcohol will help to reduce the stress in their lives, alcohol is most likely to be used in response to stress. Drinking appears to follow stress but some evidence also links excessive drinking to the anticipation of a major stress or even during times of stress.”

Recent studies have shown that your brain reacts differently to alcohol when you are stressed, which can put you at even greater risk for problem drinking or developing an addiction.

According to one addiction recovery program, citing recent research:

“Your brain develops the habit of drinking much more quickly when it is under stress. If you drink when you are stressed, you are much more likely to drink again the next day, whether you are stressed or not. 

A drinking habit that turns into an addiction is serious. Alcoholism has severe physical and mental health consequences, including death. By drinking when you are stressed, you are accelerating your journey to addiction and chronic health problems.”

What’s more, although alcohol might temporarily dampen your stress response, it can actually make things a lot worse. This Healthline article outlines the long-term effects of alcohol on stress and anxiety. In short, you are creating a vicious stress cycle if you turn to alcohol to relieve stress and/or anxiety.

Nicotine and drugs’ effect on your brain

There’s a reason nicotine and other drugs – such as cocaine, meth or opioids – become highly addictive – they reward your brain:

“Nicotine activates the circuitry that regulates feelings of pleasure, the so-called reward pathways. Research has shown that nicotine increases the levels of dopamine (a key brain chemical involved in mediating the desire to consume drugs) in the reward circuits of the brain.”(Psychology Today)

Cocaine, opioids and other drugs work in a similar way. Your brain, looking for that mood-enhancing boost of dopamine, prompts you to seek out more of the substance. Over a short time, those prompts become the basis for an addiction that can be incredibly difficult to break.

In addition, these substances can cause long-term brain damage, in addition to compromising your liver and other systems in your body. For example:

“In addition to the increased risk for stroke and seizures, other neurological problems can occur with long-term cocaine use. There have been reports of intracerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding within the brain, and balloon-like bulges in the walls of cerebral blood vessels. Movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, may also occur after many years of cocaine use. Generally, studies suggest that a wide range of cognitive functions are impaired with long-term cocaine use—such as sustaining attention, impulse inhibition, memory, making decisions involving rewards or punishments, and performing motor tasks.”

When you consider all the short- and long-term effects of alcohol, nicotine and drug abuse, it makes sense to seek other ways of stimulating your brain’s reward centers. If you are an addict in recovery, finding alternatives to using becomes especially important for your long-term success.

Exercise as an alternative coping mechanism

So, what are some other options for reducing stress and stimulating the feel-good response in your brain? Studies have shown that the following can help reduce stress and increase a sense of well-being:

• Art
• Music
• Social support
• Time in nature
• Laughter
• Deep breathing/mindfulness
• Better sleep

In addition, exercise is one of the most accessible ways to manage stress in the moment. You don’t need any special equipment or training to find stress relief in exercise: Simply stand up and go for a walk, do some jumping jacks or follow a Youtube exercise routine. Even 15 or 20 minutes can help curb your stress. (Note: Talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise regimen, if you have any health concerns.)

When you choose to exercise, you are giving your body and brain a way to reduce the negative energy of stress and anxiety. It’s a great way to cope with stress in the short-term, and if done regularly, has long term physical benefits as well such as cardiovascular health, muscle tone, and weight loss. In addition to physical benefits, exercise has many mental health benefits.

Positive mental effects of exercise

Here are just a few of the mental benefits of exercise, as proven through research:

• Endorphin boost. Endorphins are one neurotransmitter in your brain responsible for mood. Exercise increases production of endorphins, which makes you feel happier. The effect of a 20-minute exercise session can last for a full 12 hours!
• Reduces stress hormones. Exercise helps keep in check cortisol and adrenaline, two stress-inducing culprits.
• Focus. While you focus on perfecting your dance moves or golf swing, you forget about the stressors of your day. Exercise engages your brain and keeps you focused.
• Healthy brain cell growth. Exercise can prompt the growth of new, healthy brain cells in regions of the brain responsible for mood and memory.

(Sources: Mayo Clinic, Happify, BrainHQ, Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki/TEDex)

And, if you combine exercise with friends/family, good music, nature or mindful practices like yoga, you amplify its effects by stimulating even more areas of your brain!

Tips for starting a new exercise routine

As mentioned above, you should first talk with your doctor before starting an exercise regimen, especially if you have any underlying health concerns. Once you have been cleared for exercise, help ensure success with these tips:

• Start small. If you are new to exercise, or haven’t exercised in a while, don’t overdo it at first. Go for a 10-minute walk or join a beginning yoga class. Set achievable goals, get a win, and then build up to more as your strength and endurance increase. You will get far more benefits from days and weeks of light exercise than hurting yourself right out of the gate and not being able to exercise at all!
• Choose what you love. Center your exercise routine around something fun, challenging, interesting, or calming. Don’t run just because your best friend runs. If you choose exercise you love (or at least enjoy), you are more likely to stick with it.
• Enlist others. Exercising with friends or family can help you stay accountable and stick with your routine. It can also be a nice way to spend quality time with the people you care about.

You don’t have to be the next Usain Bolt or Shaun White. Anyone, at any level, can access the physical and mental benefits of exercise. It can help you achieve a better sense of well-being and a more positive quality of life.

If you would like to learn more about how to better manage stress, contact me to set up an appointment. My practice serves individuals, couples, and families in the central Denver area.

Sincerely,