Does regular exercise reduce stress levels, and thus reduce symptoms of depression?
Does regular exercise reduce stress levels, and thus reduce symptoms of depression?
There is a very complex relationship between stressful situations, our mind and body’s reaction to stress and the onset of depression. Some people develop depression after going through stressful events in their lives, such as the death of someone close, loss of job and other negative and traumatic problems that can cause large amount of stress (Prentiss, 2009). These problems make us experience a mixture of physical and emotional effects that can create stress as a positive or negative feeling. The human body is designed to experience and react to stress; it can be both a positive and negative influence. Positive stress can give a person the drive and motivation needed to stay focused and alert. Whereas negative stress is more common and can become a threat to a person’s physical and mental well-being. It can cause a number of feelings such as rejection, anger and depression, which can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers, heart disease and stroke (Stress management, 2009). This report will be looking at results from an experiment of six sessions of aerobic exercise, to see if there is a reduction in stress levels and will look at previous studies to find out if there is a relationship between exercise and reduced stress levels.
Stress is ‘the body's reaction to change that requires a physical, mental or emotional response’ (Morrow, 2009). Stress can come from an existing stressor, for example any situation that makes a person feel frustrated, angry, nervous or anxious. Stress consists of four interconnected stages:
Environmental demand, where a physical or psychological demand is placed on an individual.
Perception of demand, where high levels of anxiety influence an individual’s perception of the demand.
Stress response, where physiological and psychological response takes place from the perception of the situation.
Behavioural
There is a very complex relationship between stressful situations, our mind and body’s reaction to stress and the onset of depression. Some people develop depression after going through stressful events in their lives, such as the death of someone close, loss of job and other negative and traumatic problems that can cause large amount of stress (Prentiss, 2009). These problems make us experience a mixture of physical and emotional effects that can create stress as a positive or negative feeling. The human body is designed to experience and react to stress; it can be both a positive and negative influence. Positive stress can give a person the drive and motivation needed to stay focused and alert. Whereas negative stress is more common and can become a threat to a person’s physical and mental well-being. It can cause a number of feelings such as rejection, anger and depression, which can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers, heart disease and stroke (Stress management, 2009). This report will be looking at results from an experiment of six sessions of aerobic exercise, to see if there is a reduction in stress levels and will look at previous studies to find out if there is a relationship between exercise and reduced stress levels.
Stress is ‘the body's reaction to change that requires a physical, mental or emotional response’ (Morrow, 2009). Stress can come from an existing stressor, for example any situation that makes a person feel frustrated, angry, nervous or anxious. Stress consists of four interconnected stages:
Environmental demand, where a physical or psychological demand is placed on an individual.
Perception of demand, where high levels of anxiety influence an individual’s perception of the demand.
Stress response, where physiological and psychological response takes place from the perception of the situation.
Behavioural
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