Regular Exercise Cuts Risk Of Having Anxiety By 60 Percent, Says Study

Daily physical workouts and exercises could help people suffering from anxiety to reduce their anxiety levels. That's right, physical workout rubs off positively in terms of mental health as well, from the looks of it.

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This positive impact of exercise in reducing anxiety levels is according to a new study (published in Frontiers in Psychiatry) conducted by researchers from Sweden¡¯s Lund University that was conducted by Martina Svensson and Tomas Deierborg at the Department of Experimental Medical Science.

The study looked at a total of 395,369 individuals involving skiers and non-skiers for up to 21 years. In a conversation with DailyMail, Svensson stated that they first looked at how many of the skiers were diagnosed with anxiety disorders compared to people who weren¡¯t active skiers.

Reserchers found that the group with a more physically active lifestyle had a 60 percent lower risk of developing anxiety disorders over a follow-up period of up to 21 years. The exact number was dependent on the statistical model -- if they adjust for sex, age and education level -- around 58 to 62 percent based on the model.

They also compared high-performance skiers with low-performance skiers -- measuring the performance based on the finishing time to complete the race, signifying higher exercising habits.

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They noticed a considerable difference in exercise performance level and the risk of developing anxiety between male and female skiers.

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Svensson found that physically high-performing women had almost a doubled risk of developing anxiety compared to lower-performing women skiers. However, the overall risk of getting anxiety among these high-performing women was still not as high compared to the physically inactive group. Males however didn't show a major difference.

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Svensson concluded, stating, ¡°It seems like both sexes benefit from being physically active, even though the optimal level may differ between men and women. Studies focusing on specific sports may find slightly different results and magnitudes of the association. But this is most likely due to other important factors that affect mental health and which you cannot easily control in research analysis.¡±

For cool science and tech news, keep visiting Indiatimes.com, and let us know if you have found any positive mental health benefits of regular exercise.