I 100% agree that exercise is important, but for me, I learned last year that the type of exercise is crucial. We have a local fund that gives people with mental illness one year memberships to the gym (I bet you know what's coming next). I went, I was very nervous as I haven't exercised in a long term due to chronic low functionlity and being daily suicidal for years. I worked out a program with the gym guy and started my program, I lasted six weeks and during that period I went into hypomania/mania, which I hadn't for quite a while as Lithium looks after the highs for me pretty well. In retrospect I know the gym environment is not suitable for me - it is all loud pumping music and pumping frenetic gym members. The Hypomania of course ended in a huge plummet into suicidal depression which further on landed my in the psych ward.

I know also know that for most of my life I was either a gym junkie or a complete slug and my psychologist explained to me recently that that is a classic symptom of Bipolar, which was a real revelation but makes complete sense.

So walking is the thing for me - but I haven't gotten into the groove of it at this stage - I have chronic Insomnia and sleep apnea (I have a CPAP machine but the mask is malfunctioning right now) and I am in sleep deficit, but I am determined to get back to walking, and maybe swimming, which I used tgo do and is very meditative.