Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

greatergood.berkeley.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 317 posts

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#161

Post by nradov »

NovaDudely wrote: post #110
haswell wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people feel like “they” are somewhere inside their head. They look out at the world through eyes that are windows. The world is out there, “I” am in here. In this undefined black hole of “me”, mysterious, but definitely separate from the world and what’s “out there” past one’s eyes. They feel like their bodies are just the mechanical thing that carries them around. They don’t think of the systemic impact of…

One really cool question for people is, where do you feel 'you' are - where the core of you are physically. For many people 'you' is like a tension point in your head just behind the eyes. For me it is more in the middle of my chest. This is considered odd in the western world but it is not unheard of. I am not my mind, I am not my ego, I am but a wave in the universe, it comes - it goes it will pass - enjoy it for a…

That question doesn't even make sense, and I don't understand your reference to the western world. All points in my body are equally part of 'me'.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#162

Post by nradov »

haswell wrote: post #141
paulpauper wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not really a fan of overly strenuous cardio. I am not sure how it makes you better. i tried it and it never did much for me. it doesn't even help for weight loss due to metabolic adaptation and increased appetite.

Strenuous cardio agitates me. It’ll put me in a weird uneasy mood for a few hours at least. Apparently this is the effect it can have on some people. I’ve found Yoga and cycling to be the right fit, and they allow me to challenge myself without feeling too hyped up later.

Learn to be comfortable with being uneasy and agitated.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#163

Post by nradov »

gmiller123456 wrote: post #52

The best exercise is the one you'll stick with. For me that's cycling and kayaking, alternating every day. I had tried running just because it's convenient and requires very little gear, but found it incredibly boring. But many of my friends absolutley love running. So asking others might help with some ideas, but ods are, you'll prefer something else.

Cycling and kayaking are great, but they don't deliver the repetitive impacts necessary to maintain high bone mineral density as we age. Have to add other sports to that mix.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#164

Post by zztop44 »

nradov wrote: post #161
NovaDudely wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One really cool question for people is, where do you feel 'you' are - where the core of you are physically. For many people 'you' is like a tension point in your head just behind the eyes. For me it is more in the middle of my chest. This is considered odd in the western world but it is not unheard of. I am not my mind, I am not my ego, I am but a wave in the universe, it comes - it goes it will pass - enjoy it for a…

That question doesn't even make sense, and I don't understand your reference to the western world. All points in my body are equally part of 'me'.

Try to think of it this way… if we had brain transplant technology and you swapped brains with someone so that your brain ended up in their body and their brain in your body… which one do you think would be you?

I’m not sure there’s any clear answer to this as it touches on so many known and unknown unknowns. But, the assertion is that there most people (especially in western intellectual traditions) would consider wherever their brain is to be them (see also the concept of “brain in a vat” etc). This may or may not be true for you specifically.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#165

Post by harry8 »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #135

When I was less wise, I remember suggesting exercise to someone suffering from depression. Didn't go so well. You reach an unfortunate point when depressed that makes it difficult to listen to actually useful advice. It's an unfortunate state of mind to say the least.

Someone tells you about something that absolutely commands their total attention.

It's of very little consequence to you. You suggest they try something /obvious/. It's reasonable to assume they might have considered it.

How is that going to be perceived positively as a suggestion? Do you think it possible?

For someone with major depression, maybe it's like suffering from major arterial bleeding and we suggest an band-aid because it "can help stop bleeding"

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#166

Post by somenameforme »

NovaDudely wrote: post #122
hinkley wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We are RE-learning. Fair point. I got accused of the “noble savage” myth recently in another post and I went the wrong way with it. In trying to be better stewards of the natural world we are looking at vestige civilizations that never lost it, but the fact of the matter is that if you watch history shows, one I’m thinking of was a recreation of feudal life in Tudor England, Western Europeans used to “know” many, m…

It is most likely that both the Stoics and Buddhism got their ideas from simple introspection. I didn't read Buddhism and have an epiphany, I came to it the same conclusion by myself and then saw that others had done the same.

I think there's even a plausible direct route to stoicism. The Ancient Greeks were entirely aware of the importance of having a healthy body to have a healthy mind. In Ancient Greece, a gymnasium is where one would go not only to train the body, but also the mind. Many countries, such as Germany, have retained this etymology with certain advanced types of schools being called gymnasiums.

And in the gym one can only make significant gains by effectively controlling and overcoming their own response to pain and the body telling you, 'no - stop stop stop!' Why would truly effective control and mastery of our minds be any different? And from there you're already 9/10ths of the way to 'inventing' Stoicism. Somehow this reminds me of a really old (and fun) Arnold interview [1]. His behavior, attitude, and responses there (and even in general, really) really hit on Stoic values.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGPfJUJRh0

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#168

Post by gcoakes »

nradov wrote: post #163
gmiller123456 wrote: post #52

The best exercise is the one you'll stick with. For me that's cycling and kayaking, alternating every day. I had tried running just because it's convenient and requires very little gear, but found it incredibly boring. But many of my friends absolutley love running. So asking others might help with some ideas, but ods are, you'll prefer something else.

Cycling and kayaking are great, but they don't deliver the repetitive impacts necessary to maintain high bone mineral density as we age. Have to add other sports to that mix.

Wait, the impact is beneficial? I've been worrying about running out of cartilage in my knees throughout my life. I had considered running to be a limited time thing that will just run out at some point.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#169

Post by kennyloginz »

Noumenon72 wrote: post #99
hinkley wrote: post #2

I don’t know if this has changed for younger generations, but a lot of people, particularly those in intellectual pursuits, suffer to one degree or another from thinking of themselves as a brain being carried around as a meat sack. We are learning more about mind body connections and this is very not true (the ways the vagus nerve can totally fuck with your mental state is terrifying, and there are people with dysfun…

My brain is still "me" more than the meat sack I use to to ice skate, lift weights, and ski. I just think of my body more like a mech I can learn to pilot via telepathic control interface that gains sensitivity over time. I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory, but I've really enjoyed learning enough about my body that I can use it the way it was designed. It f…

Have you ever tried psychedelics, or pinball?

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#170

Post by soultrees »

lethologica wrote: post #83

I’ve had major clinical depression for the last 15 years or so. The first 4 months of this year was the lowest I’ve ever been. During that time though I was going to the gym 6 days a week doing weight lifting and then I would cycle 50km a day on top of that. All of it was on autopilot however, my depression just wouldn’t allow me to focus on anything but it. Luckily I had been building up the habit for years in advan…

I bet you look great though.
Post reply on HN