this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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me_irl
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A lot of that comes from being healthy, though. Sleep well, exercise, eat well. Watch your anxiety drop, focus go up, motivation go up, happiness go up. The more you do it, the easier it gets, so then the more it improves, so the easier it gets, etc.
I think so many people would be surprised that many of their life's problems and self-diagnosis or concerns of a mental problem can be resolved by exercising so they get an eppetite and are actually tired for bed time, rather than living with the fog and anxiety of doing nothing and not being able to get good rest.
The recently published link between mental health and insulin resistance is a really exciting area of research. Of course that is totally controlled by diet (insert debate about what a healthy diet is here)
It's hard to sleep well when intrusive thoughts keep replaying your most traumatic memories, or when anxiety has your heart pounding too hard to fall asleep. It's hard to exercise when just standing up feels like you are lifting ten times your weight and taking a shower would be an insurmountable achievement. And food? Sometimes pouring a bowl of cereal or ordering a pizza are all you have the mental wherewithal to accomplish.
Yeah, I used to be like too. Still am when I don't get time to exercise and therefore struggle to sleep well therefore get brain fog therefore get depressed therefore can't sleep, get hallucinations, panic attacks, no appetite, no motivation etc. etc. Sounds like you know the drill.
You sound like RFK Jr. Yes most people in our modern world don't get enough exercise, but it's not a panacea. Exercise, sunlight, and clean eating alone won't do more than nudge most chronic illnesses. Hell, the latest on ME/CFS is that exercise can actually worsen symptoms.
"All I needed was exercise and/or a healthier diet and I felt great!" folks were not truly ill to begin with, just slacking. There's a huge difference, and insinuating otherwise is a giant slap in the face to those who've tried these things (and likely so much more) and are still struggling with debilitating health issues. To use a car analogy, regular oil changes and premium fuel won't compensate for a broken axel.
Does "a lot" mean "all" in your land? Or have you just been sitting on all that waiting for a chance to unload it on someone, RFK Jr zinger included?
The original poster in the screenshot is "confessions of a diabetic," and based on her avatar I'm taking an educated guess that her illness is not lifestyle-caused. That's what makes your comment tone-deaf: a person with an incurable disease makes a statement, that other people with incurable diseases resonated with, and you start going off about lifestyle changes like it's contributing to the conversation and not just making chronically ill people feel bad. Why bad? Because it's a) a reminder of all the times they tried in vain to fix their condition with lifestyle changes, b) overlooks that most chronically ill people do actively engage in (often extreme) lifestyle adjustments to help manage symptoms, and c) reinforces the idea that if chronically ill people just tried harder they could be cured).
Putting "a lot" in front of your statement doesn't negate that it's out of context, and thus insensitive and not contributing to the discussion. It's a case of "you're not a member of the group of people that are commiserating here, so maybe this conversation isn't for you to participate in."
You have created an avatar that doesn't exist and certainly is not me.
Perhaps you should listen to the OC and not your straw men.
Dunno what else to say, but you're wasting energy. Aim it toward the actual thing you're against and not me :)
Here's a hint: I agree with you. But I was never talking about what you are. You went there. And sorry, I was never there and won't follow. You'll have to try find someone else to fight if that's all you're here for.
"Have you tried... Exercising?" is quite a tone-deaf response to these matters at this point.
Of course it's correlated with healthy living. Of course it helps maintain a healthy lifestyle with wonderful benefits for your mental health and anxiety. Sure!
However, when you're not there (yet), and you have no idea how to get "there", having someone go "Well actually, it's not that hard, lol, just start exercising" isn't helpful. To build such a healthy pattern requires more care and nuance than just the knowledge that exercising helps, or the willpower to drag yourself through the first few days of whatever initial exercise routine, hoping it magically kickstarts this wonderful, new life.
I didn't use that tone, those words, or even make a suggestion to anyone. But sounds like you've got a response loaded and ready to go in case someone does.