I was reading an article about a student counseling group at Texas Tech that is offering group runs to help with a variety of topics students face like depression, anxiety, relationships, stress, and academic concerns.  See, I was right; running cures everything.  It wasn’t a lucky guess.  I minored in Psychology in college.  Actually in this example, there are a number of aspects working toward developing these students into positive individuals:

The habit of running at a young age. College students are young adults which is the best time to build habits that will follow you into your adult life.  Unlike the habits that you form as a child that follow you into adult life which could become a bit embarrassing, like eating Spaghetti Os or picking your nose.  College is often a person’s first time on their own, making their own decisions, and living their lives how they want; thus is where habits are formed that will last a lifetime.  Instead of eating all you can eat at the cafeteria or eating McDonald’s everyday why not form the habit of running everyday?  I know this habit may be tough for college students with hangovers but that is just another skill you can take into your adult life, being able to function with a hangover!  You’ll be thankful you did Mr. Awesome Frat Guy.

Running cures depression. This article states that 80% of people experience depression, I’m a little skeptical of that statistic.  If 80% of people answer that they have been “depressed” before then wouldn’t it make sense that the other 20% have experienced it too and may just not have identified or realized it?  It is unlikely that this 20% is a group has never experienced grief.  Either way, a better way to read that statistic is “100% of people experience sadness.”  I told you, I minored in Psychology.  So yes, running makes you feel more positive.  The physiological reason is that running realizes endorphins to your brain.  Endorphins make you feel better; therefore, running cures everything.  I should be a scientist.  Running helps you think, understand, and feel better about any life situation.  You can also use it to improve your life situations by using…

Running as an accomplishment. Some of the best advice I have received was from a former top fast food restaurant chain CEO who said, “Celebrate every one of life’s accomplishments, no matter how small they are.”  Running 3 miles is an accomplishment that only takes 20 minutes but you’ll feel more confident and positive about yourself.  I think this is why, other than some physical reasons, consistent runners hate taking a day off.  They love that daily sense of accomplishment.   Other accomplishments often depend on what other people do; running is your accomplishment.  You determine how well you do it.  The former CEO also said, “Do the most difficult task first and do what no one else wants to do.”  That one is a little tougher to follow.  I’m more into the celebrating every accomplishment, no matter how small it is.

Just go for a run, you’ll feel better.  Then put the distance you ran on your facebook status to show everyone what you’ve accomplished!  Or rweet about it.   The name for a running tweet…on twitter.

There are plenty of races to benefit a cause, usually to help find a cure for some type of disease, but what about finding a cure for the everyday blues? Everyone has bad days, what is the best way to deal with them? Some may pop open a beer, I run…then I pop open a beer as a reward for accomplishing my goal.

Some Physical Fitness and Obesity Treatment Consultants believe that running or jogging is the best way to cure depression, or “a lot of bad days in a row” for our purposes here. A study found that depressed patients who had done regular exercise had a better result compared to other patients who just relied on the traditional psychological medications to cure depression. According to the chemical imbalance theory, low levels of the brain chemical serotonin lead to depression and depression medication works by bringing serotonin levels back to normal level. Perhaps the exercise helped these patients because of the release of endorphins we get when we attain a runner’s high, worked like depression medication does to offset the low levels of serotonin. I’m not a doctor though, just a runner that is in tune with his body and mind.

The study also found that patients who had done their regular exercise were found to have gained more self confidence, more happiness and a feeling of accomplishment. Self confidence from starting on a run that seemed impossible at the onset, but actually wasn’t as bad as they expect, can really help you realize other aspects of life that may not be as bad as they seem. There is nothing better to cure a negative attitude than to disprove your own perceptions of a difficult situation. Once you are done with that run, you are happy that you accomplished your goals. I’ve found accomplishing goals I set for myself gives me a lot of happiness. Whether your goal is to run a marathon or be a contestant on the “Price is Right,” (I’ve done both) there is no greater feeling than accomplishment.

In conclusion, go accomplish something and stop worrying about things that seem insurmountable, like a long, steep hill in the middle of a 20 mile run.  Just run straight up it!