Why is it that if I don’t work out I feel very anxious?

Hi. It’s Jenny at AnxietyBoss.com here. Our question today comes to us from Sara in Pennsylvania. Why is it that if I don’t work out I feel very anxious?

Well, there’s a good reason for this and it’s actually because when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. Aside from acting as your body’s internal analgesics and sedatives, endorphins act similarly to morphine and trigger positive feelings. So when you exercise, the endorphins make you feel less stressed out and anxious. At the same time because endorphins are a sedative, you will have much better sleep after exercising.

So why do you feel anxious when you don’t work out? There are actually several reasons. As we’ve said before, endorphins act similarly to morphine. In a way, you can get hooked on endorphins and crave it when you don’t get that happy feeling. When you crave something, you may have an anxious feeling, but won’t get the analgesic and sedative benefits, so you would naturally feel a bit antsier than when you would exercise.

Another explanation is that exercise actually changes how neurons respond, so over time your body has adjusted to the endorphin level. And when you don’t exercise, your nervous system is thrown off balance from the endorphin deficit. That’s why you would feel so anxious.

There may be other reasons for this, but those are the main ones. If you want to learn more about different exercises that you can do to reduce your anxiety such as running, weight lifting, etc. you should visit AnxietyBoss.com. There you can learn the best ways to reduce your anxiety naturally.