[Vossie42]

I know I'm not the only one for whom exercise does not help with anxiety. My question is why is this so? Is it the anxiety? Or is it a side effect of medication? I went for a long, strenuous bike ride this afternoon. During the bike ride I felt less depressed but I still felt anxious. Maybe a little less so. However, after the bike ride, I felt as anxious as I did before. I didn't feel as depressed as before (yeah!), but I still felt just as anxious. (And consequently the depression is returning a little.)

It makes no sense to me that my anxiety level is still just as high after vigorous exercise. Exercise helps for everything else for me but not anxiety. Can anyone shed some light on why this is?

Thanks for any input even if it's a "Me, too".

[Travelinglady]

The only thing that comes into my mind is maybe the exercise speeds up the heart and the breathing, which can happen with an anxiety attack, too, and it's interpreted as anxiety by your brain. Maybe what was working for you was the distraction which happened when you were biking.

I am no expert, but maybe some less strenuous exercise that's also distracting might work--such as taking a walk in an interesting place, with lots of things to see.