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MONDAY, September 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Preventing anxiety might just be on the snowy trail.
New research suggests that cross-country skiers – and perhaps others who also exercise vigorously – are less prone to developing anxiety disorders than less active people.
Swedish researchers have spent about two decades tracking the risk of anxiety in more than 395,000 Swedes. Almost half of the participants were skiers who had already competed in long-distance cross-country ski races. The rest were non-skiers of similar age considered less active.
“We found that the group with a more physically active lifestyle had an almost 60% lower risk of developing anxiety disorders,” noted lead author of the study, Martina Svensson, associate researcher at the Experimental Laboratory of neuroinflammation from Lund University.
Anxiety disorders are common, noted she and her colleagues. About 1 in 10 people are at risk, with women generally being twice as vulnerable as men.
To determine if physical activity could somehow protect against anxiety, the team focused on the men and women who had competed in the Vasaloppet ski race at one point. between 1989 and 2010.
The annual Swedish event is billed as the world’s largest cross-country ski race, covering distances of 19 to 56 miles. About half of the study participants had run; the other half hadn’t.
In the September 10 issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry, the researchers point out that the ski group – at an average age of 36 – had healthier eating habits, smoked less, exercised more during leisure time and was better educated than the Swedish population in general.
Study participants were followed for an average of 10 years, during which time just under 1,650 participants developed some form of anxiety disorder.
In both men and women, a significantly lower risk was observed in skiers. However, Svensson pointed out that while the finding illustrated a link between activity and lower anxiety risk, it did not prove cause and effect.
Digging deeper, investigators identified a noticeable gender gap. After analyzing the end-of-race times, the skiers were divided into three groups based on their performance: those who had the fastest times, second and third.
After analyzing the three groups based on gender, the team found that in men, the risk of anxiety remained just as low – and lower than that of non-skiers – regardless of skiing speed. But this was not the case with women.
“We were surprised to see that physically well-performing women had an almost doubled risk of developing anxiety compared to lower-performing women,” Svensson admitted.
She pointed out that even so, “the total risk of anxiety among these high performing women was still lower than that of more physically inactive women in the general population. So it seems that both sexes benefit from physical activity, although the better the level may differ between men and women.
Svensson said her study did not analyze the potential underlying causes of gender differences. The researchers also haven’t specifically investigated why exercise may help reduce anxiety. Both need further study, she said.
Still, Svensson pointed to “the ability of physical activity to preoccupy the mind and distract from other potentially anxious thoughts.” And she noted that “exercise can also tune your body’s stress system to better cope with other stressful situations.”
James Maddux, professor emeritus of psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Said he was little surprised at the results.
“A lot of research indicates that exercise of almost any kind – even a 10-minute walk – can help people manage anxiety,” said Maddux, who is also a senior researcher at the Center for the Advancement of Well. be from GMU.
“Many cognitive behavioral therapists, in fact, ‘prescribe’ exercise as an important part of their interventions with clients with anxiety or depression or both,” he said.
As to why, Maddux echoed points made by Svensson, adding that research has shown that exercising can lead to a sense of accomplishment and greater self-confidence which can lead to decreased l ‘anxiety.
“I think anyone with anxiety, stress, or depression should seriously consider regular exercise as a strategy to better manage their emotions,” Maddux said. “I say this not based on the results of this particular study, but on cumulative research on this issue. You don’t have to join a gym or go cross-country skiing. walk a few minutes each day. “
More information
There is more on exercise and mental health at the American Psychological Association.
SOURCES: Martina Svensson, PhD, research associate, Neuroinflammation Experimental Laboratory, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; James Maddux, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology and Principal Investigator, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; Frontiers in psychiatry, September 10, 2021
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