Regular Exercise Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Anxiety, Study Finds

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg led a study that looked at the effects of exercise on mental health. They found that both moderate and strenuous exercise alleviate symptoms of anxiety disorder, suggesting that regular physical activity is also beneficial to mental health.

They published their study, "Effects of exercise on symptoms of anxiety in primary care patients: A randomized controlled trial" in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

(Photo: Unsplash)
Regular Exercise Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Anxiety, Study Finds

Effects of Exercise on Symptoms of Anxiety

IFL Science reported that the team followed 286 people with anxiety disorder as they participated in regular workouts for 12 weeks. The researchers randomly assigned each participant to either a low or high-intensity workout regime and a control group.

Participants in the first two groups were subjected to a guided workout three times a week that lasted for an hour, while those in the control group were not invited to any sessions. The low-intensity workout regime was designed to increase heart rates of participants to about 60% of their maximum, while the high-intensity workout regime is designed to reach up 75% of the maximum heart rate.

After 12 weeks, the researchers found that those in the low-intensity group were 3.62 times more likely to experience a reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to those in the control group. Meanwhile, those in the high-intensity group have been 4.88 times greater than the control group.

Researchers noted that the findings were not proportional to the reduction in depression. But they pointed out that it indicates that exercise may help alleviate symptoms of anxiety.

Study author Malin Henriksson explained in a statement that they also saw a trend in the reduction of symptoms based on how intense physical activity is. The more intense it is, the more symptoms improve.

ALSO READ: Daily Exercise Can Save 5 Million People a Year, Says WHO

Importance of Physical Activity on Mental Health

Researchers have yet to figure out how exactly exercise produces these benefits, but they offered some possible explanations that could be investigated in future studies, according to IFL Science.

They said that the social aspect of workouts may have played a role for those who reduced symptoms of anxiety. Before the experiment, many of the participants were socially withdrawn. The team speculated that these people might have found contact with other group members during the experiment that it became therapeutic.

Also, they suggest that exercise must have stimulated the release of the hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (GF-1) that promotes neuroplasticity and has been shown to alleviate symptoms of anxiety in mice.

Exercise Offers New Treatment Method for Anxiety

According to Science Daily, standard treatments for anxiety are effective, but some patients frequently do not respond to medical treatments and long waiting times for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may also worsen the prognosis of the disorder.

Study author Maria Åberg said that their findings have a huge significance to both healthcare professionals that suffer from anxiety. She also said that doctors in primary care need individualized treatments that have few side effects and are easy to prescribe, noting that the 12 weeks of physical activity, regardless of intensity, has shown that it is an effective treatment for anxiety.