Sharing – Fans of fitness influencers exercise more – but they’re also more depressed

Following up on what I wrote this week about the higher rates of suicide among college athletes, this study also raised an eyebrow for me.

According to a new study published in the Cyberpsychology Journal, young adults who follow fitness influencers on social media are physically healthy. Results show that participants reported a disproportionately higher amount of “vigorous exercise” as well as fruit and vegetable intake. However, participants also reported poorer mental health.

Again, we see an example of mental health issues that are not only not caused by a lack of exercise but possibly exacerbated by the focus on health and exercise. I’ll repeat it. Mental Health issues are complicated, mostly because we are all unique individuals. Some people benefit greatly from physical activity in terms of their mental health. Others will not.

For every headline or expert who touts the “cure” to depression, anxiety, or other issues, there are always a large number of individuals who weren’t helped by it. In this study, we also have to recognize that social media accounts focused on fitness might be making things worse for people, causing them to obsess over their appearance and creating unhealthy relationships with food.

That’s not a good thing.

Whatever activity you do—exercising, reading, cooking, spending time in nature, listening to music, or making art—if it benefits your mental health, by all means, continue doing it. Just don’t promise the same benefit to everyone else because the activity might not have the same impact on them. They’re different than you.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fitness-influencers-exercise-depression-study-b2557281.html