We have interviewed 23 people who have overcome struggles with the help of excercise. These stories show that excercising is one of the most powerful ways to overcome struggles of mental health.
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I’ve interviewed 23 people who have been helped by excercise, and here are the top 5 struggles that these people have overcome:
In our many years of publishing helpful mental health content, we always received questions from our readers about specific situations. While we have a lot of helpful tips to share on how to be happier, we simply can’t offer advice for every situation.
That’s why I’ve set out to interview folks with every type of mental health struggle. My job as an interviewer is to categorize these interviews and present them in a way that is most helpful to our readers.
“I wasn’t sure how to feel better for a while. People talk about ‘getting help’ but that’s a blanket term and unfortunately it’s not a band-aid you can just put on and suddenly be yourself again. It takes time to find the right therapist, medication if that’s what you decide to do, to find a new rhythm with family, and in my case, I really needed friends locally.”
Struggled with:
Postpartum depression
“My symptoms began immediately following a workplace shooting on Saturday, November 28, 2015, and were exasperated due to the activity of the company, the criminals, and the cops. The company treated me as if I were a criminal, the criminals attempted to kill me three additional times, and the cops (Houston Police Department Organized Crime Unit) treated me as if I was a thorn in their flesh.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Insomnia
PTSD
Stress
Helped by:
Exercise
Religion
Treatment
Volunteering
“I used to have a mindset of: “poor me” – “I’m just a victim” and “none of this is my fault”. Eventually, I knew I had to change that narrative to one of control. I had to take accountability for the things that I could change, and be honest about the things I was doing that were making everything worse.”
“I used alcohol to deal with stress, anxiety, boredom–essentially any negative feeling that I didn’t want to experience. I was also using it to try to generate positive feelings–to celebrate, to have fun, to socialize. Turning to alcohol for so many different reasons made it hard to control. I started by setting rules for myself, like only drinking on the weekends and only after a certain hour. But I consistently broke those rules, so they kept getting looser and looser.”
Struggled with:
Addiction
Anxiety
Depression
Helped by:
Exercise
Rehab
Self-improvement
Therapy
“At my lowest points, I was bedbound, completely reliant on loved ones, and unable to perform basic tasks. Too fatigued to walk, make myself food, or do simple jobs around the house. I was heavily medicated and for the most part, in too much mental and physical pain to properly rest or sleep.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Chronic pain
“A man spiked my drink and assaulted me, leading to a diagnosis of PTSD and depression. This event fundamentally changed my life, leading me into a violent relationship and a period of repression and struggle. Despite these challenges, life moved on. I got married, and had two beautiful boys, but then faced another intense period of grief, losing seven loved ones in just a few months.”
Struggled with:
Abuse
Assault
Depression
Grief
PTSD
“I finally came to grips that if I ever wanted to succeed, I would need to acknowledge my ADHD and get help. This was around the same time my son was diagnosed, and we started treating him. I talked to my doctor and started taking medication again. After a few weeks, I noticed a difference. I was finishing tasks, I was proactive and productive.”
Struggled with:
ADHD
“Physical activity calms the mind, creating a clearer state to confront and address your problems. It’s a common tendency to do the opposite when we’re depressed: lying in bed, staying inactive. But it’s crucial to break this cycle.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Breakup
Depression
“Something that I wish I had known earlier in my mental health journey is that my mental illness does not need to define me. I stopped using the phrase ‘I am Bipolar/BPD’ and instead I say, ‘I have…’ I did this when I noticed how overidentifying with my diagnosis was hindering rather than helping me.”
“The part that was hardest to deal with was waking up every day, for months, going through your day, and doing the bare minimum. Because I just could not find a reason to do anything. I did not have the energy to live my life and that crushed me the most.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Breakup
Depression
Panic attacks
Stress
