I don't have the source at hand, but I read somewhere that in many hunter-gatherer societies, pretty much all people walk 15-20 kilometers every day. Coincidentally, this is approximately equivalent to the the amount of exercising I need to do calm my anxiety down.
Maybe anxiety is just some kind of exercise-deficiency. After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that.
> After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that.
Muscle contractions function as the heart for our second circulatory system.
Thank you for this. There are multiple comments in this thread saying exercise is the "silver bullet," but if you have a severe anxiety disorder, it often isn't.
I am much less anxious on the days I don't exercise. I still do it nearly every day because I want to stay healthy.
What works for me? Good old SSRIs. They are my silver bullet.
I promote exercise as an excellent way to combat and prevent anxiety/depression/etc., but calling it a silver bullet is just wrong. Some people can do all the right things and still feel like absolute shit at the end of the day. There are wars that cannot be won.
Yeah, and it doesn't have to be "exercise" exercise either, just exertion. Go work in the yard. Repair your house. Reorganize your stuff. Build some shelves. Change your own oil and rotate your own tires. Just do things that involve moving your body.
Maybe anxiety is just some kind of exercise-deficiency. After all, we were made to move around, it's entirely plausible that many biological processes in our bodies just don't work well while sedentary and our anxiety is trying to tell us that.