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Curing anxiety with exercise

Feeling a bit too anxious or nervous recently?
 
One effective prescription might be to cycle to and from the drug store – no purchase necessary.
 
A new study published in the latest issue of the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise says that moderate exercise may reduce anxiety for extended periods of time.
 
The research was conducted by scientists at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health and led by J. Carson Smith, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Kinesiology. 
 
Using a group of healthy college volunteers, Smith compared the effectiveness of 30 minutes of quiet rest with 30 minutes of moderate exercise (cycling) in reducing anxiety in both the long and short-term. The anxiety levels of the participants were measured at three intervals {1 - before rest or exercise, 2 - fifteen minutes after rest or exercise, and lastly, after exposure to photographs which included very disturbing images}. 
 
The participants were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety inventory.
 
The findings clearly showed that while both the rest group and exercise group reduced their levels of anxiety initially, those in the exercise group had far lower levels of anxiety in the longer term. 
 
Speaking of the findings, Smith said:
 
"While it is well-known that exercise improves mood, among other benefits, not as much is known about the potency of exercise's impact on emotional state and whether these positive effects endure when we're faced with everyday stressors once we leave the gym. We found that exercise helps to buffer the effects of emotional exposure. If you exercise, you'll not only reduce your anxiety, but you'll be better able to maintain that reduced anxiety when confronted with emotional events."
 
This latest study provides additional evidence of the benefits of exercise for people who experience stress and anxiety. Future research is planned to see how exercise can affect people with persistently high levels of anxiety and depression. 
 
from IrishCentral.com

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@dimspace wrote on 10 | 23 | 2012
This one comes as no news to me, cycling has been the one thing I was and am able to do with virtually no stress at all. I rode competatively as a teenager, hung up the bike for a few years and started cycling again in 2008. Early in 2009 I had my first panic attack while at work, thought i was having a heart attack, hopsitalised, released. I carried on working thinking it was a stomach infection for three weeks, suffering panic attacks, passing out, dizzy spells before finally i was diagnosed as suffering from stress related anxiety. Over the following months my illness got worse. Unable to leave the house, panic attacks three or four times a day, horrendous depression caused by the attacks and not understanding what was going on, and this continued for six months. During all this time though, the one thing I could do was ride my bike. I could barely walk to the end of my road to post a letter, and if i did manage it, i returned home sweating, trembling and would pass out for hours. But I could kit up, take the bike out and ride 20, 30, 40 miles with very little problems. The only problem I did struggle with was breathlessness. Part of the cause of my anxiety was through constantly pushing myself, at work, in my personal life, in all areas I was constantly on the go, hyperactive, pushing myself harder and harder, and the same on the bike. I would go out saying to myself, "take it nice and easy" and of course first hill I see, smallest gear, push it up the hill, be out of breath, and of course with breathlessness comes the fear, is this another panic attack, am i going to be ok. Eventually I learnt on the bike to ride within myself, ride at a comfortable pace, take it easy, not push to hard, dont try to achieve the fastest time for a route, or get up the hill in ever a smaller gear, rules, that I have, and am still trying to work out how to apply to my everyday life (with varying levels of success). Some of it was about concentration. I struggled with sitting at home, or walking because there is time for your mind to wander, fear to enter, and anxiety to start. With cycling you are always concentrating on the road, staying aware of traffic, or just enjoying the feeling of being out on the bike. There isnt time for those anxietys to creap in. It teaches your body how to deal with adrenalin, how to deal with breathing and exercise. I still struggle day to day, going to meet friends is still difficult, and if i do have to go somewhere Im particulary nervous about, I ride. Been the one constant even in the darkest days.