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Workout Your Worries: Anxiety and Exercise in MS

Does uncertainty about your future keep you awake at night? Does anxiety about moving safely stop you from participating in activities you enjoy? Do you ever feel unsettled and irritable?  Do you worry about how MS may be impacting family and friends? Do you just not feel like your typical self?     

If you live with MS, you are twice as likely to experience anxiety and mood disorders. In fact, up to 60% of people with MS experience low mood or depression, and up to 40% experience anxiety. Mood issues can be caused by the disease process itself or by the challenges and stressors that arise from managing a chronic condition. Changes in mood can interfere with important relationships with friends, family members, co-workers, and your health care team. Recognition and acknowledgement of mood issues lead to strategies for management. While medications and talk therapy are important strategies for helping with mood challenges, emerging scientific evidence suggests that exercise may be equally as effective. Aerobic exercise such as cycling and walking, as well as stretching activities such as yoga, may help to manage mood. 

Please join psychologist Meghan Beier, Ph.D., and a physical therapist Mandy Rohrig, PT, DPT, for an honest interactive conversation about recognition of mood changes and ways to management mood with physical activity.