A group of American scientists from Harvard University, Barry University and the Justice Resources Institute found that strength training with weight lifting helps people overcome psychological trauma and regain their mental health. To work published In the scientific journal Mental Health and Physical Activity.
Psychological trauma refers to a severe emotional response to a tragic or frightening event that hinders a person’s ability to cope with the situation. Psychological trauma often results from experiences of violence, abuse, accident, or natural disaster.
Researchers interviewed 46 trauma survivors who had been involved in weightlifting for at least three months. The negative experiences that the subjects had to go through in the past ranged from abuse and attacks to discrimination on various grounds.
Participants in the experiment reported that traumatic experiences made them feel excluded, both from relationships with other people and from their own bodies. This helped them overcome weight lifting. Exercises with barbells and dumbbells not only developed muscle strength, but also made me realize my negative experience as something that can be overcome. The improvement in physical condition had a positive effect on mental health, allowing people to return to social life.
Based on a qualitative analysis of the scientist’s interviews, they formed a well-founded theory of the effect of weight lifting on the healing of mental trauma. The researchers also noted that they were working with a small sample and that data on past injuries were obtained only from the volunteers’ words. The authors of the article acknowledged that the results might have been different had they interviewed people with a clinically confirmed diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
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