For the last few decades, the media has been full of reports touting the benefits of exercise. Like many people with Bipolar Disorder, I ignored the reports until recently when I started trying to get myself in shape. And, like many who have also got back on the treadmill, I’ve actually started to feel some of the benefits of exercise myself. While I would never stop taking my medication, I’ve noticed definite improvements in my mental health since I’ve been exercising.

The NYT  just posted a blog about the benefits of exercise. According to recent research, some of the benefits include:

• Mental health benefits to those who get out and exercise.
• Stress-resistance in those who take advantage of opportunities to run after being confronted with stressful situations or aggressors.
• Relief from anxiety disorder in women who suffer from anxiety after bicycling or weight-training.

Two of the studies cited in the NYT article included human participants and one of the studies included rats. The study with the rats seems quite twisted, at least from the rat’s perspective; passive rats were put in the same cages as more aggressive rats. The passive rats did not fare well in their new housing circumstances. Even when they were away from the more aggressive rats, the so-called weaker rats showed signs of anxiety and stress.

The researchers provided a way for the rats to combat their stress by putting little running wheels and fun mazes in their cages; the rats who took advantage of the opportunity to exercise were much more stress-resistant than those who did not. When the rats’ brains were studied, the animals who hadn’t exercised had different neuronal activity in the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex. Both of those parts of the brain are thought to regulate emotions and moods.

Past researchers have investigated whether or not there is a relationship between the amygdala and Bipolar Disorder with varying results. If the results of the study involving rats prove truthful for people as well, it could mean that exercising might be able to help those of us with Bipolar Disorder quite a bit when dealing with stress, which would then in turn reduce the ability of stress to trigger manic episodes and depressions.

Even if exercising doesn’t help with amygdala functioning, exercising should help you feel somewhat better when you’re not having a severe depression or a manic episode. Truthfully, I believe that severe mania and severe depressions can only be treated with medicine. But in times of hypo-mania or mild depression, exercising can’t hurt.