The pain fades, giving way to numbness, and from out of this dull nothingness the most exquisite pleasure is born. Initially, this is a low level joy: the simple pleasure of knowing you have overcome pain. Gradually however, the feeling intensifies and euphoria descends; colours are somehow brighter, thoughts are fewer but clearer and everything seems possible. Finally, you enter a near mystical state, you experience the “runner’s high”.
Since the 1970s we have known about the existence of endorphins, the body’s own naturally occurring opiates. The release of endorphins (“endogenous morphine”) can block pain and give rise to euphoria in much the same way as consuming opium or morphine would do. In short, endorphins can be viewed as mood-altering drugs dispensed by our very own internal pharmacy. No prescription or medical insurance required.
Reports of the runner’s high – a state of euphoria following intense exercise – have long been explained in terms of exercise-induced endorphin release (the endorphin hypothesis). Some researchers even suggested that anorexia nervosa might be explained as an addiction to the endorphins released in response to starvation states and excessive exercise.
It wasn’t until 2008 however, that scientists actually documented any hard evidence supporting a biochemical basis for the runner’s high. Using advances in brain imaging technology, a German team observed that long distance running does in fact release a flood of endorphins in the brain, and that this release was associated with significant mood changes, specifically elevated happiness and euphoria. The long held folk belief was now true, the runner’s high was real and the findings were shared with the world in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
It is now official, if you can smash through the pain barrier and keep pushing, then you can force the body into getting high. But even those of us who prefer less masochistic exercise regimes can benefit. A huge body of research also suggests that, even at its lowest intensity, physical exercise has mood-enhancing properties.
In the context of clinical depression, the findings are the same: engaging in routine exercise appears to be associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. A review article published in April this year, in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, concluded that exercise is a useful treatment for people experiencing mild to moderate depression.
This is a view shared by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which provides health care professionals and the general public with evidence-based health care guidance. It has published at least three guidelines relevant to depression: one for children, one for adults and a third one focused on depression among people who also have another chronic physical health problem. All three of the depression-related guidelines recommend physical exercise.
What are the effects of regular exercise in terms of preventing the onset of depression and other mental health problems? Unfortunately, there hasn’t been enough research to draw any firm conclusions on the question of prevention. However what is clear is that physical exercise is mood-altering in the most positive sense of the phrase, and as a treatment for depression it is relatively inexpensive and side-effect free.
We should also consider that exercise can be fun, too, with many people opting for group sessions lead by exuberant instructors who scream motivational phrases over the throb of high-octane dance music. Zumba – a hugely popular get-fit-quick craze – for example advises “ditch the workout, join the party”. For many people, attending the gym or fitness studio has a social dimsenson – an opportunity for meaningful, mental-health promoting, face-to-face interaction with other human beings.
Many people join gyms in January, hoping against all odds that their New Year’s resolutions can expiate the old year’s excesses. Friday, October 10, is World Mental Health Day. If ever there was a day worthy of being the anniversary of the day you joined the gym, then 10/10 is that day. Exercise is not only good for the body, it is good for the mind too.
Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University and author of Psychological Well- Being in the Gulf States
On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas
