Glow Up Isn't For Everyone: The Mental Health Benefits Of Exercise Depend On Context

Moving your body is good for your mind, but how much, how, and where you exercise can make all the difference. Studies show that free-time exercise helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, but not all physical activity has the same effect. Furthermore, the environment and how you exercise, such as being in a group or with social support, can also influence mental health benefits.

Mental health is a major concern in today's society, and researchers have sought to understand how different factors can influence psychological well-being. One of the most studied aspects is physical activity, which goes beyond its known benefits for the body and can also positively impact the mind.

Many people have heard that exercise improves mood, helps reduce stress, and even alleviates symptoms of depression and anxiety, but do all forms of physical activity help equally? And are these effects the same for everyone?

Although physical exercise is widely recognized for its mental health benefits, in some specific cases it can exacerbate certain psychological disorders. Individuals with anxiety disorders, for example, may experience worsening of symptoms due to the physiological activation of exercise, such as increased heart rate, which can be interpreted as a danger signal and trigger attacks.

In eating disorders, exercise can be used compulsively and dysfunctionally, reinforcing patterns of control and corporal punishment. Furthermore, people with severe depression or bipolar disorder may have difficulty regulating the intensity or frequency of activity, which can lead to exhaustion or mood dysregulation.

Therefore, exercise should be adapted to each individual's clinical context and, ideally, monitored by healthcare professionals.

This article, based on an ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) colloquium in 2023, discusses precisely these questions based on three types of scientific studies: epidemiological studies (which observe large populations), clinical trials (controlled studies with volunteers) and research that analyzes the context in which exercise takes place.

Epidemiological studies show that people who engage in leisure-time physical activity, such as walking, running, dancing, or going to the gym, generally report fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. It's also common to observe that the more people exercise, the fewer these symptoms tend to be.

However, this doesn't mean that doing a lot of exercise always brings more benefits. In some people, a very high level of activity may have no effect or even cause the opposite effect. It's important to note that there's still no good evidence directly linking other forms of physical activity, such as heavy lifting, household chores, or walking to work, to improvements in mental health.

Furthermore, controlled clinical trials testing the effectiveness of exercise as a treatment also indicate that regular physical activity can help treat mental health problems, especially in people who already have a disorder. However, these studies generally involve small groups of white, middle- or upper-class individuals, which limits the conclusions for other population groups.

And even in these studies, scientists still don't know exactly why exercise works: the effects may be caused by the physical movement itself, but they may also be linked to the environment in which the activity occurs, the feeling of self-care, or even a placebo effect (when a person improves simply by believing something will help).

Another important point is the role of context, that is, the conditions in which physical activity takes place. Factors such as social support during exercise, the instructor's motivation, the way the program is conducted, and even the physical environment (such as outdoors or in a group setting) can influence how much the activity actually helps mental health.

While some evidence suggests that these contextual factors can make a difference, it's still unclear which ones are most important or how they affect different people.

To advance this field, scientists need to develop studies that consider not only the type and intensity of exercise, but also the environment and social conditions in which it is practiced. This will help us better understand how to make physical activity an even more effective tool for managing mental health in a personalized and accessible way for everyone.

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Up for Debate: Does Regular Physical Activity Really Improve Mental Health?

BUSTAMANTE E.E, BRELLENTHIN A.G, BROWN D.R, and O’CONNOR, P. J

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 57(5):p 1056-1066, May 2025. 

DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003636

Abstract: 

Physical activity is frequently touted as beneficial for mental health. This article, based on a 2023 ACSM colloquium, highlights key strengths and limitations of the evidence regarding physical activity and mental health from three perspectives: epidemiological studies, randomized controlled trial experiments, and investigations that explicitly consider the potential role that contextual factors, such as the social climate in which physical activity is completed, can play in physical activity–mental health interactions. A large body of epidemiological evidence supports that regular leisure time physical activity is associated with less depression and anxiety. Higher amounts of physical activity are often associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but there may be a dose–response point where for some people more is not better but can plateau or even worsen. Epidemiological evidence is emerging but currently inadequate to support associations between mental health and occupational, transportation/active commuting, or domestic/household physical activity types. A large body of randomized controlled trials, typically small, short duration and conducted with samples biased toward middle-to-higher socioeconomic status Whites, supports that the adoption of regular exercise improves aspects of mental health; however, the mechanisms are unclear and for those without mental disorders the mean effects are small. Mental health benefits of exercise may be partially a placebo response or result from contextual factors surrounding exercise programs. A small body of evidence supports that contextual elements, such as the program implementation quality and social environment, can influence the mental health outcomes associated with physical activity programs, but the evidence is currently inadequate to identify which contextual variables have consistent moderate or larger effects. Greater progress will be made in this area when research designs are expanded to include consideration of the potential influence of contextual factors on relationships between physical activity and mental health.