Exercise and Mental Health

Exercise is something that many people who have a mental illness struggle with for many different reasons. Some people don't want to think about exercise. Some want to exercise more, but feel they can't. Others exercise, but feel it's a losing battle. Here are some of their thoughts:

I have a hard time focusing on what I am doing when I am exercising. It seems like whenever I try to walk or run that I go fast and slow, fast and slow. I can't stand not being able to keep a steady pace.







I don't even want to think about trying to do even one sit-up anymore. My stomach has gotten so fat that I can hardly bend over to tie my shoes.







It just seems like it is such a losing battle. If I can't control my eating, why should I exercise?







Every night I go to bed thinking that the next morning I will be able to get up and exercise, then the next morning I am still too tired to want to move.







I have terrible balance. I can hardly walk in a straight line anymore.







I am just too tired to exercise.







I want to join a gym. Then I would be able to go exercise more.







I used to ride a bike, but I can't do that now.







I exercise and exercise, and keep gaining weight.







I want to become more healthy, but don't really know where to start.

Exercise is one of those things that a lot of people think about doing. A lot more people probably think about exercising than actually do it. People buy gym memberships with the intention of going regularly, but then end up letting the membership lapse. Some people keep paying for their gym or health club membership, but seldom go.

Exercise is one of the things that people think about as part of making large changes, but they don't really think as much about the possibility of how much of a difference small changes in exercise habits can make.

There are different ways that a person can begin to make small changes in exercise habits.

1. Exercise during TV commercials or between programs.
2. Climb one flight of stairs a day.
3. Stretch when you get out of bed for 10 minutes in the morning.
4. Check out a beginning YouTube video on yoga.

There are a lot of people who have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis who have started to move more.

In Michigan many peer support specialists are trained to teach Personal Action Towards Health (PATH). This is a program that was developed at Stanford and is an evidence-based course on learning how to better deal with chronic health problems. In each PATH session you take part in activities that focus on coping with fear, learning how to improve symptoms, and making a weekly action plan to improve your health.

This is part of a successful national program called Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. It was developed by the Stanford School of Medicine.

You can find a listing of available PATH classes at www.mipath.org. If you can't find an active PATH class near you, On the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website there is a program called “Hearts and Minds” that addresses exercise and becoming more healthy. 







The goal of any exercise program or exercise is to become healthier so you can do more of the things you would like to do in your life. Exercise for the sake of exercise isn't something that many people find enjoyable. However, setting a realistic goal that you want to work toward has lots of intermediate rewards.

Some people enjoy using Wii or a Kinect to exercise. This way the exercise can be more like a game in which you work hard to become the winner of the game, and while doing that, you also win by improving your health.