The correlation between Mental Health and Physical Fitness in College Students

A study formed by Jeoung and colleagues covered the importance and correlations found between students physical well-being and mental health.

Maintaining personal fitness can be an issue with students with a busy class and work schedule. These first couple years of adulthood are important for adaptation to environments, personal relationships, and learning the work-life balance. This can cause stress, anxiety and depression which can be improved with health-related physical fitness. Although this fitness is not a cure-all for these mental health issues, researchers have been able to find a correlation between the two.

Physical activity has been found to increase self-esteem while decreasing the feelings of anxiety and depression among students and the general population.

This study uses 228 university students from one university (unnamed) and used a mental health questionnaire formed by Lee (1985) which covers somatization, depression, obsession, anxiety, hostility, phobias, and psychoses. The students were also given a health-related fitness test which included the PACER test, grip strength, endurance (sit-ups, push-ups), flexibility, and body composition.

As expected, males preformed higher on the physical fitness test, which was most likely due to the male body ability. However, they also scored higher on the mental health test than the females.

While each area of the fitness test seemed to correlate with different subsections of the mental health test. I.e. sit-ups affecting levels of hostility and paranoia. The correlation was positive between physical fitness ability and mental health in all areas except flexibility, in which there was no effect.

The study concluded that there was a gender-related difference on both the mental health and the physical fitness test. Researchers assumed due to the physical ability levels, that the male students participated in physical activities more than the female students. It was also concluded that mental health among college students is influenced by their levels of physical activity and fitness.

Jeoung, B. J., Hong, M. S., & Lee, Y. C. (2013). The relationship between mental health and health-related physical fitness of university students. Journal of exercise rehabilitation, 9(6), 544. https://dx.doi.org/10.12965%2Fjer.130082

Are you over-exercising?

Deciding what is considered over-exercising can be touchy and confusing for many people. Especially when you consider professional athletes who are required to be in the gym and/or the field for set amount of times (usually the majority of their days)

To decide if you are over-exercising, you should listen to your body during and after your workouts. If you are physically and emotionally exhausted and can barely move, you most likely exercised too much.

Physical effects

• muscle strains/sprains

• shin splints

• stress fractures

• too much weight loss

• Low body fat percentage

  • affects hormones and can cause early menopause and osteoporosis

• risk of anemia and weakened immune systems

• slow metabolism

Soreness and achiness is a sign that your body needs a day off and to rest.

Psychological affects

• fatigue/no energy

• depression

A great number of people who over-exercise are actually punishing themselves for eating something they think they shouldn't have. The motivation for the workouts should always be considered and if in a healthy mental state, would be "to be healthy."

Social effects

• Damage to social life

A very common side effect of over-exercising is choosing to be in the gym instead of participating in social events. This can damage your relationships with your friends and families. You should never feel guilty for missing the gym to have a social life. If you experience this, you are most likely exercising compulsively.

Muscle Dysmorphia: the trade of mental illness's in the gym

Muscle dysmorphia is a type of body dysmorphic disorder, a mental health condition. Muscle dysmorphia is closely associated with consistent gym goers and can lead to multiple other mental health issues.

Body dysmorphia overall is when a person spends large amounts of their time conflicted with how their body looks and is perceived by others. Many, if not all tend to focus on what they consider flaws in their own bodies. This mental health condition often leads to eating disorders due to the decrease confidence in body image. Muscle dysmorphia is a subtype of body dysmorphic that affects around one in ten people who go to the gym regularly.

Muscle dysmorphia is most common among men, but is increasing among women as more women began strength training and bodybuilding. This dysmorphia causes people to see themselves as "too small" or not having enough muscle mass on their body, even in those who are extremely muscular. To those who suffer from muscle dysmorphia, they feel as though their body image and muscle mass is insufficient to them.

"It's like having a red marker you critique yourself with in the mirror" - unnamed sufferer

This condition often leads sufferers to hyper focus on their workout regime, their diet, and body image. In most cases, their life outside of the gym is put on the backburner. relationships and work easily become second to the gym, causing many personal problems within their lives.

To others, these sufferer's may look extremely healthy and fit. Therefore this issue is very difficult to recognize in another person. Many people who suffer with muscle dysmorphia will tend to gravitate to others with the same condition. Signs of this condition can be feeling unable to miss a workout, working out while being injured, body checking regularly, spending multiple hours within the gym, repeated thoughts of how muscular/lean you are, neglecting social or work life for workouts, taking sport supplements (steroids', etc.), and building everything else in your life around the gym and diet.

On the male side:

Muscle dysmorphia is proof that males suffer from negative body image along with women. one study has even shown that dissatisfaction in ones body has almost tripled in the last 25 years. This can be correlated with the shift in the 'ideal' male body to a muscular, Greek god-like physique, which is shown throughout Hollywood, action figures and even reality TV.

Even men such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the most famous bodybuilders, struggle with body dysmorphia. He had stated that he never saw perfection in the mirror, he was always lacking something

Risks:

Muscle dysmorphia leads to prioritizing the gym over everything else along with overtraining. This overtraining can lead to dehydration, increased risk of injury, and weakened bones. IN women, there is usually a combination of an eating disorder, lack of bone health, and loss of periods. This phenomena is called the female athlete triad. These lasting effects will more likely occur in bodybuilders due to the bodybuilding competitions in which they are attempting to be at their absolute leanest. while bodybuilders tend to be at about 10 percent body fat before competition, the healthy recommended body fat percentage is above 12-14 percent.

There is also an increased risk of suicide among those who suffer from muscle dysmorphia, along with general body dysmorphic disorder. This is associated with decrease self-esteem and negative body image.

How to help the condition:

If you or someone you know fits the description of being preoccupied with muscle building along with body image, seek help through therapy and spread awareness. The relationships you or others have with exercise and food can be helped with the right treatment.

Paul, S. (2021, September 7). Muscle dysmorphia: The hidden illness affecting 1 in 10 gym goers. Natural Food Therapy. Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://naturalfoodtherapy.co.uk/muscle-dysmorphia-the-hidden-illness-affecting-1-in-10-gym-goers/