Running as therapy
Running can be powerful, but can it work as a fix-all solution to mental health struggles?
Words Louise Pyne
We all run for different reasons. If you’re an early morning riser, maybe you love the cathartic feeling of running while the world is still quiet. Or do you run for the gratifying sense of freedom that running provides, relishing the sensation of the wind hitting your face as you put your best foot forward?
Perhaps you pound the pavements to help keep your health and wellbeing in gear, or maybe you’re one of the 7 million runners who took up running when the pandemic began last year in a bid to look after their mental health.
Many runners would agree that running can be an effective form of therapy. When life gets too much, running can provide a calming respite that keeps us on the straight and narrow. Research backs up these positive feelings, with evidence indicating that staying active during everyday ups and downs such as family emergencies and relationship struggles helps us to experience stressors less severely.
Come on, get up, get happy
A separate study published in the journal Brain Plasticity found that running also helps us to process emotions. During this study, the German researchers discovered that lacing up our trainers and heading out for a run helped to activate the brain in ways that control how we process our emotions.