[Chat] Physical Health Affecting our Mental Health
We all go through times in our lives when an injury prevents us from going to training or means we miss out on certain event. We also experience times when we are dissatisfied with our physical appearance and may even have physical disabilities. But how does it affect our mental health?
Sometimes we feel strong and powerful physically and this makes us feel accomplished.
But other times, it's difficult to keep up the tempo but everyone has their tough days.
How can our mental health affect our physical health?
How can our mental health affect our physical health?
Stress can increase cortisol levels, blood pressure, cravings for fatty foods etc, all of which can have detrimental consequences on our physical health. I also find that when I am in a poor state of mental health, I am less inclined to exercise and look after my physical well-being. On the contrary, when I am feeling realtively well, I tend to be more motivated to exercise, eat well etc.
so everyone is going to bag out running - I never said it was for everyone. Most people don't distance running unless they want to be distance runner.
@Ben-RO I hate hearing tall people complain about running; such longer leads for longer strides 😞
My order is running (because I don't have to put up with others when I make a mistake); then netball; then weights; then footy and whatever else
Fact - exercise improves your mood - there is science to it (says the exercise nerd)
It can reduce the stress hormones in the body (the one called cortisol). It's way of releasing all the negative energy when you feel like you're going to explode.
Provides a sense of achievement and structure to daily routines. There is also the social aspect or just being able to escape from other people 🙂
100% agree with all those points @loves netball and I love all the facts!! 
@loves netball well admitedly since i started working on my hip flexor and core strength running has become a lot more fun. Who knew that sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day was unhealthy?
2.How can exercise help our mental health?
So many ways! I hear of a thing called Endorphins that can be pretty sweet for mood, maybe @loves netball or someone else can explain what they actually do in our brains/bodies.
I also think exercise can be a pretty good distraction or coping mechanism too, or give us time and space to think through a problem. I know that's why i do free diving. My sister took a photo of my once before and after i went out on a reef for a couple of hours. It was really interesting because you could see how much more relaxed i was in my face and posture and stuff, like i looked like a total cranky pants before and after i looked like i'd had a nap, rather than swimming a bunch of K's.
Endorphins are created in the brain, spinal cord and other parts of the body and are released in response to chemicals called neurotransmitters from the brain and then they connect to the neuron receptors. The endorphins themselves act as analgesics and sedatives which pretty much means they lessen the perception of pain, trigger a positive feeling and I guess make you a bit more tired as well.
5 minutes of research ^^^
Nicely done @FootyFan26!
How can our mental health affect our physical health?
Less motivation. I feel like being emotionally/socially drained affects how we talk to others as well and being a bit more cranky might not make us feel so great about ourselves later. Has resulted in sleepless nights for me mulling over it. That's just me though. Maybe I just have less energy 
How can our mental health affect our physical health?
I definitely CBF to do anything when unwell, despite that generally being the most likely thing to improve my brain. Soooo my mental health definitely directly impacts my physical health and then if i am not careful it can spiral. Less physical activity leads to poorer mood, less interest and more worry which leads to less activity and so on and so forth. Not a good combo! So I make sure i drag myself out and do at least a little thing, and make lots of habits that keep me active without noticing... admitedly that doesn't work for everyone but it works for me 🙂
That's awesome @j95 do you find that easy to do when you're not doing so great? Or did it take some practice to get the hang of being active when going through a tough time? tell me your secrets!!!
But then now that I think about it, it doesn't really motivate me to excersise it's just a coping mechanism that I have used for so long that I just do it,and also a preventative, gotta spend some time sweating it out each day @Ben-RO
4. Are there other things that can affect our mental health? Or does exercise cure everything. What are some other things that can affect our mental health?
Our social health can affect our mental health because most people need at least some interaction with others and if that isn't there it could have a negative impact on them. Diet can also have an impact, I believe that putting the right fuel in your body increases your mood. Also physical appearance can also have a big impact on our mental and social health.
Oh! That's a good point @FootyFan26 about physical appearance! How do you reckon mental health affects it?
