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The benefits of exercise for the body are well documented. According to authors Southwick and Charney (2018), regular exercise and physical activity helps control weight and the hormone shifts associated with obesity, combats and prevents multiple adverse health conditions and diseases, improves mood, boosts baseline energy, promotes better sleep, and can be a route to social interaction.
However, beyond the physical benefits of exercise, mental and emotional benefits are documented as well. Some of these benefits include a reduction in symptoms and severity of depression, reduction in the symptoms and severity of anxiety and panic related disorders, as well as improvement in brain functions such as cognition, thinking, decision making, planning, attention span, and memory. Physical exercise also reduces the hormonal effects of chronic stress and anxiety, as well as significantly mitigates the effects of stress in future stressful and traumatic experiences and situations (Southwick & Charne, 2018).
Below you will find research articles on the benefits of physical fitness on recovery from traumatic experiences and the ways in which being physically active can bring emotional healing.
Michelle
The article I found about resilience and exercise pertained to older adults in Spain. The findings of the article showed that older adults who engaged in regular exercise during the COVID-19 quarantine scored higher on the scales/instruments that were used demonstrating higher resilience, positive affect and lower depressive symptoms.
Carriedo, A., Cecchini, J. A., Fernandez-Rio, J., & Méndez-Giménez, A. (2020). COVID-19, Psychological Well-being and Physical Activity Levels in Older Adults During the Nationwide Lockdown in Spain. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(11), 1146–1155. https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.1016/j.jagp.2020.08.007
Rebekah
The article I found was from Frontiers in Physiology and the study was aimed at studying the effects of regular exercise and acute stress events. The findings suggested that those who engaged in regular exercise had a smaller decline in positive mood after an acute stressful event than those who remain sedentary. This ability to be resilience in the presence of stress can be beneficial in that it has protective qualities against diseases that result from chronic stress.
Childs, E., & de Wit, H. (2014). Regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to acute stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in physiology, 5, 161. https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.3389/fphys.2014.00161
Josh
The article I found that was most interesting to me was a study published in the International Journal of Sport Psychology that found that as physical fitness increases, the severity, length, and perceived profundity of psychological distress decreased significantly. Regular exercise of any type creates an internal environment that can process and metabolize hormonal responses to stress, shortening the length of stress-related symptoms (Tucker, 1990). The internal environment of the fit also enhances the emotional functioning of the body, helping cortisol levels stay regulated and therefore the negative physical effects of the sympathetic nervous system are shortened and easier to process (Tucker, 1990).
Tucker, L. A. (1990). Physical fitness and psychological distress. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 21(3), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.6.1355
Sol
This randomized controlled trial looked at 64 women with PTSD and found that those who did yoga once a week for 10 weeks had fewer symptoms than those who attended a support group.
Van der Kolk, B. A., Stone, L., West, J., Rhodes, A., Emerson, D., Suvak, M., & Spinazzola, J. (2014). Yoga as an adjunctive treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 75(6), 559–e565. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.13m08561
Helen
Mikkelsen, et. al. (2017) stated in the study that regular physical activity can significantly improve mental health and reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Running therapy, psycho-therapy or meditation-relaxation therapy were provided to 3 groups of patients of 74 who were randomly divided for 12 weeks. Symptoms of depression were reduced significantly in all 3 groups.
Reference:
Mikkelsen, K., Stojanovska, L., Polenakovic, M., Bosevski, M. & Apostolopoulos, P. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Elsevier. Volume 106, December 2017, Pages 48-56
Crista
This is an article about how physical health and mental health interconnect. The article goes on to explain how important this is after a disaster.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecm.2012.01.003
Herrman, H. (2012). Promoting Mental Health and Resilience after a Disaster. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Medicine, 4(2), 82–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecm.2012.01.003
Yasmin
I found a study that tested the relationship between physical activity and mental well-being of adolescents in China. This was a cross-sectional study with 775 participants, who were students from grades 7 and 8. Results of the student showed that physical activity was significantly correlated with mental well-being, resilience, and self-efficacy. The study concluded that there is a positive relationship between physical activity and mental well-being, and that such activity can help the mental health of adolescents.
Ho, F. K. W., Loui, L. H. T., Chow, C. B., Wong, W. H. S. (2015). Physical activity improves mental health through resilience in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. BMC Pediatrics 15, 48. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-015-0365-0
Roselyn
This study is primarily to evaluate yoga as an intervention for many conditions that often affects the US veterans which includes low back pain, falls, mental illness (depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD), and insomnia. I included this study because it shows yoga as an approach to ensure that veterans in patient-centered care are improved from within and not just as a recipient of interventions from the clinicians.
Evidence-based Synthesis Program, (ESP) Center Durham Veterans Affairs Healthcare System Durham NC (August, 2014). Evidence Map of Yoga for High-Impact Conditions Affecting Veterans. Health Services Research and Development, VA. www.hsrd.research.va.gov/publications/esp/yoga.cfm
The literature has shown a clear correlation between physical fitness, mental health, emotional plasticity, and recovery from trauma. This correlation exists cross-culturally and across the lifespan, and also seems to be correlated between types of trauma. The literature further demonstrates that the greater level of one's baseline fitness, the better one can cope with a trauma as it unfolds and in the immediate aftermath. With this in mind, our group recommends that at all stages of life, physical exercise is a crucial part of mental, emotional, and spiritual health. We sincerely hope these articles can help inspire a physical exercise regimen, particularly for those recovering from disaster or trauma.
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