"Can Exercise Help Conquer Addiction" - Interesting article from Harvard Medical School
We know that exercise is a part of healthy lifestyle and has also been shown to help combat anxiety and depression as well. It appears that exercise may help treat addiction as well. According to this article “Can Exercise Help Conquer Addiction” by Claire Twark for Harvard Medical School, there is some research that shows promising results that exercise may help treat addiction.
In her article, Twark outlines some recent studies involving animals and humans that show promising results. She also discusses how there are now organizations popping up throughout the country that promote physical activity for people in recovery.
I personally feel that exercise is an important part of a recovery program for a number of reasons. Exercise can help new sober people create a healthy schedule and routine. Exercise and sports can help sober people connect socially in healthy ways, and also helps the body and the brain start to heal after addiction. While exercise is an important part of recovery, I do think it’s important to remember that a recovery program combines many forms of treatment modalities like exercise, meditation, psychotherapy, self help support groups and medication assisted treatment if appropriate.