Depression & Negative impacts on exercise

Its has been proven that performing exercise is a great natural anti-depressant and can increase serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain which is great for our mental health. However, something which can often be overlooked is how mental health issues can have a negative impact on exercise and emotions you experience throughout. Depression and anxiety can trigger a number of thought processes and emotions which may hinder our exercise/gym experience.

Below are several variables to consider when exercising or attending the gym.

Negative Mind Set

A huge factor which depression can cause, is forcing us to have a negative mindset hosting a magnitude of negative thoughts and outlook. When stuck in a dark headspace on a consistent basis, it can be difficult to see the positives in anything, however not trying will only make this worse.

Having a negative mindset and applying that to your fitness goals can very quickly stop you in your tracks of making any progression. An example would be thinking you’re never going to get where you want to be or achieve your goal so what’s the point – Accepting this and giving up is something which will only make you worse in the long run and will offer no positive outcome. You may also find yourself making progress, yet never being satisfied with the result.

To help overcome a negative mindset, you have to force yourself to be positive and re-programme your thought process to have a better outlook on situations. You can do this through:

Writing something down positive about yourself everyday
Acknowledge negative thoughts and then think of a positive outcome
Use frustration and negativity to fuel your motive
Practice mindfulness techniques

Low Self Esteem

A negative mindset will often go hand in hand will low self esteem and is likely to a be a route cause. Self esteem is how we perceive and feel about ourselves, those with high self esteem will often express a lot of confidence and have a much more positive outlook on their goals than what someone with low self esteem may have.

Low self esteem may incorporate feelings of low confidence, self doubt and loneliness which can be contributing factors to depression. Low self esteem can also result it you being overly critical on yourself both physically and mentally, feeling as if nothing is good enough.

The reason this may impact your exercise and results, is it will become increasingly difficult to remain motivated when you’re never happy with what you see and the results you have made and therefore, you may give up.

To help with low self esteem, you can:

Make note of achievements and results no matter how big or small
Push yourself out of your comfort zone
Accept setbacks and use them as motivation

Fatigue

Mental health will impact many aspects of your lifestyle, many of which will contribute to your energy levels and motivation. Although it is hard to distinguish if depression directly impacts our energy levels, it does impact factors such as your diet, sleeping patterns and stress levels which contribute to overall energy levels.

Sleep – Depression and insomnia will often go hand in hand. Lack of sleep will likely lead to depleted energy levels and overtime will impact your mental and physical ability. Depression can likely lead to experiencing insomnia due to worries and stresses you may have keeping you awake or cause you to experience broken sleep.

Diet – When suffering with depression, your diet will likely be impacted. Some may under eat and skip meals due to lack of appetite often caused by high stress levels and anxiety. However, others may over eat on processed sugary sweets and treats and seek this as ‘comfort food’. As your diet can be intermittent, maintaining a nutritional and balanced diet may be difficult and ultimately lead to reduced energy levels as your body isn’t receiving the right nutrients

Mental Fatigue – Depression will often have you stressing about a magnitude of things all at once and what may feel like a never ending train of problems. Experiencing this on a consistent basis will eventually lead to you feeling mentally fatigued or burnt out, resulting in a mental fog or as if you cant think straight. Although this is not necessarily a physical impact, it can leave you with little energy or motive and a lot of the time the need to sleep or rest.