Bipolar Disorder and Exercise. Why it helps.
There are a few technical reasons:
1. It increases serotonin
2. It creates endorphins
There are also tons of health reasons that I’m sure you know.
But did you know that exercise helps depression for one psychological reason?
When you get one thing done, such as taking a short walk, your brain finds it a lot easier to get the next thing done. Exercise cuts down on depression brain resistance! How can your brain tell you that you never get anything done and that you’re a failure if you just exercised! You have duped the brain and that is a secret to managing the illness.
I have 50 ways to get things done in my book Get it Done When You’re Depressed. I use them all. That is how I write my books even when I’m crying from the stress. We can get things done when we’re depressed, we just have to bypass our ill brains and exercise is one of the best ways to do this.
One of my favorite strategies in the book is to Think Like an Athlete. I use that tip a lot! I just wrote a blog about exercise and how it helped me manage a pretty bad anxiety mood swing!
Julie Fast
PS: I just read this blog post again as I posted it and I am going to take a walk. I’m rapid cycling and a walk can help that. It sure if frustrating to be up for a few hours and then to go down. The exercise will definitely help.
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I couldn’t find a place to send you a direct email so I will post my questions here. =)
Hi Julie,
I just came across your blog a few days ago and I have been working my way through your posts since I found it. I am bipolar 1 and was diagnosed in 2003. I have learned so much about the illness yet some symptoms always surprise me. I have been pretty stable for the last year or so except for the occasional breakthrough episode. Lately I have been having trouble with obsessive thoughts that keep reoccurring…mainly at night while I am trying to fall asleep. The most popular of the thoughts is zombies. I am always thinking about how I would prepare myself for a zombie attack and how I would try to survive and protect my family. I replay the thoughts over and over in my head until I’ve decided I have a good enough plan to escape. I usually don’t ever get to the point to having that good enough plan and usually fall asleep thinking about all of this. It will come and go too…like for a few days I’ll be really obsessed with the thought and then I’ll have a few days where I don’t think of zombies at all. I don’t even watch zombie or scary movies for this reason because I tend to think about the scary situations all the time. I do take Klonopin for my anxiety and it seems to help some with the thoughts. Maybe I need to talk to my pdoc about getting a higher dose for my anxiety. ??? I also just started the starter pack for Lamictal. I was on Abilify for about 2 years but it was causing me to have high blood sugar so I had to switch.
Also I often get very overwhelmed when I am in a large gathering of people. It’s usually to the point that I want to cry and have to fight back tears for most of the show. It tends to happen at concerts, sporting events, church and most recently…a monster truck rally. I don’t know if it’s the over stimulation of the sights, sounds, people and smells or if it’s just a bipolar thing that makes it difficult for me to function at these type of events. I can usually get somewhat comfortable about half way through the show…at least to the point that I can enjoy myself and the event that is taking place. I was wondering if you go through anything like this and what you do to help calm down and be more comfortable.
Thanks so much, Jennifer
hi Jennifer! Every single thing you write is normal. I have been through most of it- though the zombie stuff is very original. The brain picks up on certain things and won’t let them go.
You are normal within the bipolar normal definition! I have a lot of suggestions and will answer your questions soon. I always want to write people and then I get behind- but I will get to yours!
julie
Dear Julie firstly thankyou for your very informative website.
I have wanted to contact you for sometime but wanting to and getting there are sometimes poles apart!
The message left by Jennifer Petecki really struck a cord with me only my fear is knives,they have to be put away and hidden or my mind goes into overtime and boy is that hard work!
As always your site makes me feel normal. Yes NORMAL!
I deal with OCD symptoms on a daily basis. Luckily they’re not as intense as the knife ones. Mainly irritations like straightening curtains or doing something so many times.
These ones I am able to overcome although not always, I am however getting there however slowly it may be. I have a 16 year old son he also has mild OCD and it helps to know that someone really understands.
We have a very relaxed approach to it, we laugh at ourselves but we take it seriously and accept each other for it.
I was diagnosed in 2007. I have Bipolar 2. My diagnosis was a huge relief, over 20 years of my life suddenly made sense. All these light bulbs one by one went on in my head.
That is when I came across your website in my search for answers. I want to learn all that I can so that I can stay one step ahead of it.
It has been trial and error with the medication and I am now on my current combination
venlafaxine
serequel
mirtazipne
Initially I had weight gain and nausea and the benefits took some to be apparent but for me it was worth perservering, this has given me my life back.
Sure I have days where i’m bouncing off the celing and the phone bill increases considerably, then follow those awful dark days.
But i’m learning everyday. Your health card system and all the books that came with it mostly made me feel normal the information on every page is a must have.
Best wishes and thankyou once again
Debbie UK
Dear Julie,
Thank you for being so honest about your battle with bipolar disorder, and for chronicling your experiences so that other sufferers can learn from them.
I stumbled upon your blog while googling for a link between endorphins and hypomania. So far, nothing I’ve read suggests that an endorphin rush can trigger off a hypomanic episode, but I’m worried that there might be a possible connection between the two.
To cut a long story short, I took up social dancing a few months ago – at least two studies have shown that it benefits patients with depression, so I thought it’d help with bipolar as well (I have Bipolar II). I gradually realised that after social dancing, my thoughts would start racing, I’d be unable to sleep, and I’d be slightly more irritable in the couple of days following, even though I’m usually on cloud 9 immediately after a session. I didn’t take much notice of it and attributed it to other causes. However, I quickly became hypomanic at a dance party recently without even realising it. When I crashed back down to earth later, the realisation of how terribly and how uncharacteristically I’d behaved sent me straight into a depressive episode.
I’m trying to figure out if there’s a direct link between endorphins (from dancing) and hypomania. Or is there another explanation for all this, so that I can still continue to dance. I’m seeing my psychiatrist soon and will ask him about this, but I’d really appreciate it if you could drop me an e-mail if you have any thoughts on this.
Many thanks,
Alixana
Hi Alixana,
I just answered your question on the blog. You can type in Alixana in the search engine in order to find the answer.
thank you! Julie
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much for your answer. After reading and re-reading what you wrote, I think I’ve figured out what happened. Basically, I’d not been sleeping for more than 48 hours before the party, and prior to that, sleep has been elusive. So I guess I was already well on my way to hypomania, and the party just had enough triggers to tip me over the edge. It’s reassuring to know that dancing per se might not be the problem. Like you mentioned, I must learn how to handle it so that it doesn’t cause any trouble in future.
Thank you so much – your reply gave me a great deal of reassurance.
Much thanks,
Alixana
Thank You so much I have bipolar 2 with mostly depression I have been depressed every day for a year . Symptoms always moderate to high and I always gave in until recently. I am being kind to myself allowing me to have these symptoms but working really hard to not let them control my life. My new goal every day is to make it the best day I can and move on. Always laugh , smile, have some enjoyment no matter what. I used to think I had to feel perfect to live my life I realize thats not true it is my choice to make it a good day or a bad day. The day can be good even with bipolar depression. Plus I had death wishes really bad 2 weeks ago and said if this is my life then I don’t want to live. Well they are over because I realized my life is what I make of it and I can conquer everyday and make it the best day it can be and be glad.
Thanks