Welcome back to Reading the Research! I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects to share with you. Along the way I discuss the findings with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today’s article is confirmation of what my doctor has been telling me all along: managing anxiety can be a physical problem, not a brain problem.
Our typical understanding of depression and anxiety is that it’s a brain issue. One you treat with drugs, and maybe with therapy. The thing is, in the US we live in a profoundly unhealthy culture. We sit all day instead of doing active things on our feet. We eat large amounts of things that have little or no nutrition. In our homes and offices, we breathe air polluted with car exhaust, printer particles, and mold.
If all these factors weren’t in the picture, yeah, anything still occurring would be a brain issue. But that’s not how it is. So we have studies like this, showing that you can manage anxiety with exercise. This was a larger study, almost 300 people, which helps establish its credibility for showing a pattern. Like me, the participants typically had chronic anxiety and had suffered from it for at least a decade.
I’ve talked about the importance of movement for living your best life in the past. This is actually why, when I went job hunting earlier this year, I opted for physical jobs. I started out throwing boxes for UPS, which is excellent exercise. Now I’m doing a bit lighter of work processing envelopes. But I’m still feeling and doing far better than before. Managing my anxiety has never been easier.
It’s like the exercise burns off the energy I’d use for worrying and stressing about stuff. I’m just calmer and happier every day because I have that movement in my life.
Having movement in your job isn’t the only way to manage anxiety, mind. Some jobs, like administrative ones, simply don’t allow for that. So instead you can go for walks, do hobbies that get you moving and outdoors, or even opt for things as simple as standing desks. All without needing medication and having to manage the side effects that come with it.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter! There are links and comments on studies that were interesting, but didn’t get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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