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> When it’s bad, it’s hard to do because those things hurt. Sometimes you know it hurts, but you need to keep going anyway. OP replied to me with the metaphor
by maccard 5y ago
> When it’s bad, it’s hard to do because those things hurt.
Sometimes you know it hurts, but you need to keep going anyway. OP replied to me with the metaphor of physical pain, which works great in this case. If my trapped nerve hurts, I _know_ the root cause of it by now, I don't need it to keep stabbing me in the back for 2-3 weeks while I work on fixing the root cause.
Similarly for mental health, exercise (in particular) provides you with that capacity to handle things. If a person is under serious stress financially, they _know_ they're struggling. If exercising 2-3 times a week can help them keep that stress under control so it doesn't destroy a relationship in the process, that definitely seems like a worthwhile use of time (rather than "feeling" the stress).
- blueprint 5y agoin cases of mental health issues it's not sufficient to just exercise or work or sleep and eat right but to have means of processing things internally ... but exercise is massive because it has giant effects on brain chemistry and inflammation similar to what sleep does and it is what you'd be doing , generally, if you did have those means of processing things in place. (at least get to the point where you sweat.)
- lazide 5y agoThe problem being, once you get to a certain state of bad, that requires executive function that is essentially impossible to muster.
- maccard 5y agoThat's exactly my point. Using a "crutch" for want of a better word to avoid being in that state is the correct use of a crutch. If you can't muster the executive function to perform basic tasks, you definitely can't handle the root cause of whatever is pushing you over the edge.