Sports condition both your body and your mind. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend adults participate in 2 1/2 hours of moderate aerobic activity and 2 hours of muscle-strengthening activity every week. Sporting activities provide the opportunity to achieve both goals at once. Participation in a wide variety of sports, through school and community activities, can be tailored to your personal goals and athleticism to obtain mental health benefits.
Improve Your Depression
Sports participation can make you less depressed. A research team led by Michael Babyak, Ph.D., demonstrated that depressed people who participated in structured sporting activities for 4 months were more likely to report minimal or no depressive symptoms than comparative groups who either took medicine for depression or who used both medicine and exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine advocates exercise as a way to alleviate depression in adolescents, citing a 2006 study in the “Journal of Abnormal Psychology” as evidence.
Improve Your Anxiety
If you want to feel less anxious, try participating in sports, according to a December 2005 article in the "American Journal of Psychiatry.” The researchers chemically induced a panic attack in two groups of subjects suffering from an anxiety disorder: one who had just finished exercising for 30-minutes and the other who had rested during this time. After the injection, both groups became more anxious; however, significantly fewer members in the exercising group had a panic attack compared to the at-rest controls. The American College of Sports Medicine cites a 2006 article that provides further evidence that participating in sports can decrease your anxiety.
Improve Your Self-Perception
One of the physical benefits of participating in sports is people tend to lose weight and gain muscle, making themselves look better and improving their self-perception. The Association for Applied Sports Psychology officially lists improved self-perception as a psychological benefit of exercise. Assertions such as these are given further creditability by a 2000 study published in the journal “Pediatric Exercise Science,” using a large sample of 6,923 adolescents. Among both male and female teens, level of exercise was associated with feeling better about their body image.
Improve Your Confidence
If you are feeling less depressed and anxious and viewing yourself more positively, then you would also feel more confident overall. Princeton University Health Services indicates that athletic persons have increased energy, which makes their day-to-day tasks easier. The New York State Department of Health echoes this statement, indicating anyone can tailor a sports routine to their level to improve independence and self-confidence.
References
- American College of Sports Medicine; Mental Health Benefits of Exercise for Adolescents; M. Allison Williams, Ph.D., et al.
- Applied Sports Psychology: Psychological Benefits of Exercise
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need?
- "Psychosomatic Medicine"; Exercise Treatment for Major Depression: Maintenance of Therapeutic Benefit at 10 Months; Michael Babyak, Ph.D., et al.; 2000 (PDF)
- "American Journal of Psychiatry"; The Acute Antipanic Activity of Aerobic Exercise; Andreas Ströhle, M.D., et al.; December 2005
- "Pediatric Exercise Science"; The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Self-Esteem, and Academic Achivement Among 12-Year-Old Children; Mark S. Tremblay, et al.; 2000 (PDF)
- Princeton University Health Services: Exercise and Fitness
- New York State: Department of Health: Fit for Life; Disability and Health
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