The Effect of Physical Activities on Depression in College Students
With relevance to the research previously conducted, it is conclusive to say that physical activities not only reduces depression on the already affected college students but also completely reduces the chances of developing depression and related complication. My approach to the project was based on evaluating the health and mental status of the college students that fitted my sample subject categories. The samples categories were divided into three distinct groups based on their college lifestyle and health status. The first group involved students that were constantly working out, that means the often engaged in physical activities. The next group was students who never engaged in physical activities at all, and the last group was the group that at some point in their college life, the engaged in physical activities. The sample size was ten college students, a cross gender mix up. The methodology of the research involved the use of questionnaires that evaluated the mental health status and majorly depression related disorders.
The main lesson learned from the research is that, a greater percentage of the sample students that constantly engaged in physical activities, or those that at some point in their college life was engaged in physical activities, had minimal mental problems. While those that did not engage in physical activities at all had suffered depression related cases at some point in their lives. Some of them were going through loneliness, hopelessness cases, that signify the presence of depression in their college lives. The primary explanation for this observation is that there is a direct relationship between physical activities and the brain activities. College students constantly engage their brain when they take part in all the related academic activities; these activities put the cells under enormous pressure with time the pressure turns into fatigue of the brain. From the outside, the brain fatigue comes out as head aches, general tiredness that later translate to laziness. At this stage, the students normally start looking down upon him or herself. It is at this point that depression kicks in, and the individual start developing depression related complications.
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As mention above, engaging in physical activities reduces or eliminates the chances of an individual developing depression or related mental complication. From a scientific point of view, what working out does to the human body is that the subjects the muscles to intense pressure, the adjacent cells are forced to generate more energy through aerobic and anaerobic respiration (Mailey, 2010) . The energy is required for the individual to be able to undertake the physical movements of the body parts through the muscles. Just as the muscles flex the release the tension between the individual skeletal cells making them flexible and active. However, when an individual that does not engage in physical activities, the muscles become less dormant and eventually inactive (Wu, 2015) . This explains the development of laziness in an individual that does not engage in physical activities; just the muscles become more active, the brain cells are as well in the same manner activated.
Depression and anxiety are conditions that are associated with intense brain activities beyond with an individual can handle physically. Therefore the pressure trickles down to the rest of the body in the form of tiredness (Zschucke, 2013) . What physical activities do to the brain is that it subjects the calls to intense physical pressure. The pressure triggers the brain cells to accept more supply of nutrients from the blood, considering the fact that the blood circulation levels elevated when a person is working out. The cells, therefore, engage in intense metabolic reactions, and replenishes almost all the nutrients reserves, at the same time all the metabolic wastes are eliminated by the elevated respiration activities, at the end of the activities the cell is in a new state that can be regarded as advanced (Melnyk, 2014) . Constant work out increases the chances of the cells to with stand intense mental pressure that is induced by the mental workload such as emotions, critical thinking, and academic activities.
To explain the long term effects or physical activities, as mentioned above, the individuals who at some point in their college lives engaged in physical activities, the also demonstrated few cases of depression and anxiety or a related disorder (Melnyk, 2014) . This essentially because brain cells need to be physically subjected to some kind of pressure, to release tension. Once the tension is released, it will take time before the organ system becomes entangled especially for the young developing brains. When once the tension has been released, the student is able to counter most of the possible mental challenges that may lead to the development of depression related complications.
In summary, physical activities are as important for the brain just as they are important for the physical body. The same way the shape, the human body and facilitate the elimination of toxic metabolic wastes from the body, is the same way the brain cells benefit. In a nutshell, physical activities reduce the chances of both the physical body and the brain exposed to diseases and complications (Taliaferro, 2009) . Depression is regarded as the obesity of the brain, once it affects the brain it open doors for other disorders. Basing on the research, it is conclusive to say that engaging in physical activities is as important for the brain just as it is important for general body fitness.
References
Mailey, E. L. (2010). Internet-delivered physical activity intervention for college students with mental health disorders: a randomized pilot trial. Psychology, health & medicine, 15(6) , 646-659.
Melnyk, B. K. (2014). Improving physical activity, mental health outcomes, and academic retention in college students with Freshman 5 to thrive: COPE/Healthy lifestyles. . Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 26(6) , 314-322.
Taliaferro, L. A. (2009). Associations between physical activity and reduced rates of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior among college students. Journal of American College Health, 57(4) , 427-436.
Wu, X. T. (2015). Low physical activity and high screen time can increase the risks of mental health problems and poor sleep quality among Chinese college students. . PLoS One, 10(3) , e0119607.
Zschucke, E. G. (2013). Exercise and physical activity in mental disorders: clinical and experimental evidence. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, 46(Suppl 1) , S12.
