We have interviewed 25 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 25 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.
“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
“What if it could prevent someone else’s journey from taking the destructive twists and turns mine had? What if it could help caregivers and medical providers anticipate the road ahead and help the survivor navigate? What if MY journey could have been a little smoother because I had read or heard about someone else’s journey? Before I knew it, I was on a path to publishing.”
“At my worst, I would hurt myself so I had an escape and a release. There are points where I feel so out of control in my body that even breathing is a task. I hold my breath. In truth, I have night terrors about what my funeral would be like, who would show up? Would I be missed? Would people come out of the woodwork when I was gone? If I left this body here would I hurt less? I battle every single day with loss. Your mind begins to play tricks on you.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Cerebral palsy
Childhood
Depression
Suicidal
“No one can change your life for you and help you. You have to make an effort to get better. It can be very difficult when you’re depressed, but you have to take at least one small step every day. Start with what is easiest for you.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Helped by:
Exercise
Medication
Self-Care
“If you struggle with social anxiety, the best way to overcome it would be to take small steps to face it. Go to places that make you uncomfortable and take a look around. You’ll realize no one is looking at you.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Helped by:
Exercise
Self-improvement
“Accutane came on the market in 1982, I began taking it in 1985, and in 1986 I was feeling very depressed. Accutane had a number of side effects, but the one that impacted me the most was depression; the stats say only 1% of people will have MDD while on Accutane. I was that 1 percent.”
Struggled with:
Addiction
Anxiety
Depression
“I isolated myself even when I was present. I became really good at hiding what was going on in my head. I pretended to be happy, mostly because I didn’t want anyone to know I wasn’t. And I knew it wasn’t anything that anyone else was doing, I just felt so unfulfilled.”
“I constantly compared my body to everyone else’s. And I viewed my perfectly healthy body as “bad” and not good enough. I was self-conscious of what I wore and always strived to wear clothes that hid my insecurities. I didn’t allow myself to wear clothes I loved because they highlighted a perceived flaw in my body.”
Struggled with:
Negative body image
Helped by:
Exercise
Mindfulness
“When I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, I was elated to finally have a label for my issues. After suffering through the symptoms for my entire life, there was finally an answer as to why I had experienced them.”
Struggled with:
Abuse
Borderline Personality Disorder
Helped by:
Exercise
Journaling