Autism and Exercise for Mental Health (The perks of physical activity for your mind and body)

I'm autistic and have struggled with depression. Recently I have started doing long runs. I've found I feel the best when I run for as long as possible focusing on duration not speed. I've built up to over 7 miles now and I feel so much better doing regular long runs. Only downside is the time it takes to do it but I feel so much better so it's worth it. My wife and kids really have noticed the difference too.

The person that I most loved in the world is an aspie, I wish she's happy and doing well because she deserves the best in the world

I had no car for 7 years. Then I moved to a bigger town, had a new job and got a car. I fell ill and got depression, because I lost my everday walking or going by bike, which was my kind of exercise. It took me a while to realise the connection.

I have a lot of trouble switching from one thing to another. I tend not to think about it consciously so much, but this video made me realize I really need to investigate routines that will help me do that, even if in my case it's a 15 minute walk outside. I get angry with myself when I can't move on to the next task - I need to start noticing the transition needed and finding ways to help myself. Thank you!

Sending love to everyone else who has a lot of struggles around physical self-care. My history includes distorted thinking around my body and a lot of significant illness and injury. It's a lot and I'm sure others have a lot too. I'm very fortunate to have recovered, but it does leave an aftermath both physically and emotionally. What's worked for me is gentle rehabilitation with the guidance of a great physiotherapist, slowly and surely building up and making it all nurturing and careful with lots of attention paid to how I feel and making it all about embracing myself, not rejecting or judging myself. It is not easy, all the trauma woven in, autistic inertia and a lot of emotion and frustration. But commitment to self, a little growth and a little learning is enough, that's enough to heal with. 💗

I took up swimming last year. I never really liked swimming pools for various reasons, since I was a kid. But me and my EX used to do it now and then, it was OK, and it just occurred to me why don't I go there myself? It became a regular thing and now it's part of my physical activity regimen. It has had a really great effect on my overall health. I want to go to the Gym at least 1-2 times a week but it has been inconsistent for a while, partly due to Covid, life stuff, and these days my body and mind seems to prefer more gentle activity. Maintenance, just keeping it consistent. I go for walks as much as I can, on the days where I don't have swimming or the gym, it's amazing what a simple walk can do for health when you keep a routine. Aside from that I do Qi-Gong about 20min every day, to start my day off, it's great for mind and body. In summer I like to be outdoors mostly and go hiking, which me and a friend do each year.

Yep, me too. I need the exercise; but I walk and bike... and when I was unable to exercise and was depressed, I went on a minimum dose of anti-depressant, which helped some... God bless you, Paul. And God bless all of you who have had the same experiences.

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your videos. For my entire life, I've always felt different than everyone. Trying to live a normal life is difficult. Basically, what is easy or difficult for me seems like the exact opposite of what is easy or difficult for everyone else. I realized about six months ago that what I've been experiencing throughout my life goes beyond ADHD symptoms. I've been struggling pretty bad with anxiety and depression, and for the first time in my life, I started seeing a therapist. He seems to also think that it is autism. I'm in the beginning stages of obtaining a diagnosis. I had been listening to a podcast about ways to cope with ADHD, when they interviewed an adult woman that had been recently diagnosed with autism. And her experience was very much like mine. She talked about the AQ test, which I took afterwards and scored a 39/50. I talked with my wife about it, and she also started researching. She stumbled upon one of your videos discussing and explaining criteria from the DSM-5. She said, "This guy reminds me of you. He seems like someone you would be friends with. And so much of the stuff he talked about was exactly you." So you've actually played one of the larger parts my finally beginning to understand myself. So... Sorry, I tend to be rather wordy, but I just wanted to say thank you.

I’m so happy you’re starting to feel a bit better, Paul! Thank you so much for sharing this. I just want to share w/ everyone, coming from an autistic & recovered eating disorder perspective, that nobody NEEDS to exercise every day to be healthy and happy. Autistic people are more susceptible to eating disorders and obsessive exercise and dieting can be dangerous for us. I really like the intuitive eating & exercise approach promoted by Abbey Sharp on YouTube if anyone is interested. That said, gentle exercise can be very good for mental health & anyone can find a form of exercise that actually feels good & is sustainable for them, no matter how it compares to what is promoted by popular wellness culture (which is often trying to sell you something w/ no evidence or individual consideration).

I just realized the other day that exercise was the reason I could make it through out college and all that social stuff. Also, I used to get very debilitaling migraines for 20+ years. Eight months ago I removed certain foods from my diet, and it worked!

Great video! A few thoughts. I was able to leverage my repetitive personality to my advantage. Now, a daily morning jog/run is one of my daily repetitive steps before going to work. Be careful of a health club if you are shy and have social issues. Gyms can be crowded, loud, and people may have to compete for equipment. It led to me blowing off workouts when I felt burnt out(when I most needed a workout). On the other hand, if you really get into a type of exercise, it can be a bridge to make friends with others that share the same interest. Some research is suggesting that exercise not only can help improve the quality of your deep sleep, but help your brain function better during insomnia(significantly increased blood flow to the brain). Finally, a 20 minute outdoor walk/jog/bike ride is a bit like light therapy--especially for those that stay indoors most of the time(that bright light burning the back of your retinas is actually good for you;). Paul, thanks for another great video and best wishes for continued progress.

Exercise is equal to life for myself. I have tried many kinds of physical exercises, all brings me a lot of benefits. but biking on the mounts close to the nature for my body, is the bestone! 👍👍👍

I can relate to the lack of motivation. Exercise doesn't do it for me. I tried it for a while, but it was actually quite annoying, and it stressed me out. I never felt good afterwards - just exhausted or bored. My feeling is that I am missing input there. I enjoy taking a walk though. Or just working on simple projects with others. Just this week, I had a large boost in mental health being part of a fantastic event that combined me giving a public lecture in front of hundreds of people and an orchestra playing music in between. Yes, preparing it took a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. And you can't replace the adrenalin surge you get during these events. Loved it.

Exercise and regular physical activity quite saves me, and always picks me up when I've fallen off. I always hated trying to play organized sports but found that physical activity does wonders for my mindset and is essential for the career path I've chosen... but even if I didn't need to be fit for my career I'd still be working out just to stay feeling ok. Being independent and solitary much due to being on the spectrum, I work out alone but that's what works for me! Great advice here. Hope working out continues to work out for you!

I would urge caution around taking anti depressants. I went to several different surgeries and saw at least 6 different GPs (In the UK) and could not find one that would be open and honest about side effects. The side effects can be very distressing, depressing and dangerous, so not having that honest support is a real problem. It has devastated my life. If you see a GP don't assume that they will give you good advice. It's my experience that they know very little about mental health issues, but may be the only medical professional some seriously ill people will gain access too. My advice is to ask lots of questions and don't hand over control thinking that they are experts. If they skirt around the issue of side effects you will know that they are prepared to put patients at risk rather than be honest. I don't know why they do this but after raising this issue on forums I can see that not all GPs in the UK behave in this this manner. It is my understanding (please do your own research) that anti depressants only help about 50% of people and some of that is placebo. Good luck.

Thank you for sharing about this! Exercise is incredible and I'm trying to get into it again. Something I've been doing for two years now is seeing a NUCCA chiropractor - that might help with your migraines, it's made a MASSIVE difference for my mental health because it supports a healthy nervous system!

My outreach workers take me for a 5 km walk three days a week. I find it much easier to talk to someone if I'm walking and so there's heaps of space to look in all directions so I don't have to make eye contact.

It took me having to quit my job, sell my house, move back with my parents for a while (in my late 40s FFS), and starting over again in non-management positions to reorder my life. I “compulsively” rode bicycles from age 5 through college. I understand now why. Without that outlet, my mental health deteriorated badly over two decades. Cooking for me and a dog, and walking the dog has limited my time so I can’t go overboard on exercising. Now I’m able to appreciate just taking leisurely evening ebike rides to enjoy the simple feeling of being on two wheels. Although I have severely damaged ties with my own family even more with the whole life redirection, I had to make changes in order to continue to exist. In addition to removing a bunch of stress, adding back exercise that is beneficial for me has been one of the main changes. I mostly avoid the really strenuous activities now—did enough of those for five people haha. Now it’s more about the joy of being able to appreciate the movements my body makes and the sensations of scenery, weather, movement, and smells.

I have been learning Tai Chi for nine years then when I started thinking about it its the perfict thing to do, for mind and body and the repeated movements are enjoyable, I would recommend it to anyone no matter what age or fitness, you can even do sitting down Tai Chi.

I can currently dumbbell press up to 50 pound dumbbells, and I feel that I keep getting stronger 💪