It’s not uncommon to hear people talk about the mental health benefits of running. In fact, ask nearly any runner and it’s likely they’ll be able to provide a personal anecdote about the benefits. But is running really that good for mental health? Here’s an overview of existing research on the topic, as well as anecdotal evidence kindly sent in by our readers.

What’s The Issue?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as a “state of wellbeing in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (WHO, 2018). Poor mental health is a significant contributor to global morbidity. What’s more, it’s an aspect of overall wellbeing historically subject to stigma. While much has been done in recent years to encourage discussion and reduce perceived stigma of mental ill health, its contribution to global morbidity is likely underestimated.

In tandem with the individual cost, mental ill health carries a substantial economic burden. Consequently, understanding and developing effective interventions is critical. While frequently prescribed pharmacological treatments such as antidepressants and anxiolytics are, in many cases, effective (Penn and Tracy, 2012), patients have an overwhelming preference for psychological therapies (Schaik et al., 2014). This is due, in part, to the plethora of side effects that can accompany medication (Kirsch, 2009), but also because psychological therapies provide patients with the tools to “control their feelings … challenge negative thoughts and beliefs, and … cultivate positive thinking and action” (Layard et al., 2007, p.90).

Despite their effectiveness, patients’ preferences, and recommendation from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) that psychological interventions should be available to all, access is often hampered (at least in the UK) by a shortage of therapists in the NHS. Consequently, the need to find efficacious, cost-effective interventions is clear.

Research On The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Mental Health

In the last few decades, the relationship between physical activity and mental health has received considerable research attention. Of particular interest has been the antidepressant effect of physical activity.

For example, in a sample of 30 patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who were either non-responders or partial-responders to
pharmacological treatment, statistically significant improvements in HAM-D (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression), GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning), and CGI (Clinical Global Impression) scores were unearthed by Pilu et al. (2007) after an 8 month physical activity intervention.

Similarly, Martinsen et al. (1985), in researching the effects of
aerobic training on 43 individuals who met diagnostic criteria for MDD, found participants had significantly greater reductions in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores after 9 weeks in the training group than the control group who received occupational therapy (Martinsen et al., 1985).

Innumerable studies assess the relationship between physical activity and mental health. Physical activity is, however, a broad term encompassing a wide variety of sports and fitness-related activities. We now turn attention to literature looking explicitly at the relationship between running and mental health.

Research On The Relationship Between Running and Mental Health

In 2020, Oswald and her colleagues conducted a scoping review of the literature surrounding the relationship between running and mental health.

The study set out to answer two research questions. First, “What is known about the effects of running on mental health outcomes?”. Second, “What are the current knowledge gaps?”. 273 studies were analysed (from 16,401 studies identified across numerous databases), with 116 included in their final review. Running was considered to include jogging, sprinting, marathon running, orienteering and treadmill running, the diversity of intensities providing an overall picture of the relationship between running and mental health.

In assessing the benefits or impact of running on mental health, outcomes included depression, anxiety, eating pathologies, self-efficacy, psychological stress, mood, self-concept, psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, and addiction. These were informed by an earlier study assessing the relationship between walking and mental health (Kelly et al., 2018).

If you’re after the TLDR version of the findings, it’s best summarised as follows. The studies suggest that running, irrespective of distance or intensity, as well as running specific interventions, can improve mood and mental health. However, differential effects were observed depending on the type of running.

It’s not within the scope of this article to address each finding from the studies included in the review of Oswald et al. (2020). Instead, we’ve selected findings that we feel provide a fair and balanced overview of existing literature on the relationship between mental health and running, starting with cross-sectional research.

Cross-sectional Studies

Runners versus non-running comparisons

Of the 116 papers included in the review, 47 utilised cross-sectional designs. Of those, 16 compared measures of mental health in runners and non-running comparisons. These revealed that runners had lower depression and anxiety, lower stress, higher psychological well-being, and better mood compared to controls who lived largely sedentary lifestyles.

Runners versus runners

19 of the aforementioned 47 studies looked only at runners, instead comparing different types and levels of running. Studies investigating marathon training found a positive relationship between marathon training, self-esteem and psychological coping. However, in two studies wherein questionnaires were administered to long-distance runners, a correlation between long-distance running and disordered eating behaviours was found. Obligatory runners (obsessive runners who sacrificed commitments and relationships for running and suffered withdrawal symptoms if they missed a run) exhibited traits characteristic of anorexia nervosa patients.

Acute Bouts of Running

The scoping review included studies which analysed “acute bouts” of running – that is, where participants were briefly exposed to running in either single or multiple bouts. Effectively, interventions were brief, designed to assess whether running was good for one’s mental health even if administered in small doses, so to speak.

Single Bouts

Pre-post measurements of mood and short-term measures of mental health were the focal point of 23 (of 35) studies investigating a single bout of running. 22 found positive improvement in measures of mental health (including anxiety, depression and mood). Importantly, improvements were observed irrespective of the environment (treadmill, track, field, parkrun) – so plodding along on a treadmill isn’t all bad, after all.

One study, however, found a decrease in self-efficacy of children following participation in a gymnasium PACER (progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run) running challenge. This has implications for the way running is introduced to newcomers, particularly in the context of running-centred interventions for mental health (or more vulnerable sections of the population, generally). For example, individuals suffering with depression may already be characterised by low levels of self-efficacy. Interventions should be well-thought out to minimise the possibility of adversarially impacting such outcomes.

Multiple Bouts

Hold your horses, treadmill lovers. While research shows improvements to mental health can be realised with indoor, treadmill-based running; one study, assessing multiple bouts of running, found that while indoor runs had a positive effect on mood, even greater benefits to mood (with participants feeling less anxious, depressed, hostile, fatigued, and more invigorated) were realised during outdoor runs. I’m not sure a study was really necessary to make that point, but there you have it!

The initial evidence from the scoping review of Oswald et al. (2020) regarding acute bouts of running (whether treadmill, track, outdoor, or social running) across a plethora of distances (2.5–20 km), demonstrates favourable mental health outcomes. Unfortunately, these studies failed to utilise inactive (sedentary) comparison groups, limiting the strength of the evidence. What’s more, generalisability is hampered by the absence of variation in the demographics of participants as well as reasonably small sample sizes.

Long(er) Term Interventions

Interventions in this category ranged from 2-weeks to 1-year marathon training programmes. Three 10-week walking/jogging interventions found reductions in anxiety measures, improvement of well-being and conflicting results for changes in depression measures compared to controls. Another 10-week running intervention found that depression, trait anxiety and state anxiety all decreased significantly while mood improved significantly. An additional 12-week intervention of self-directed running in recreational runners found that well-being was significantly higher during weeks when individuals ran further and ran more often, while self-efficacy was related to distance ran but not to frequency of running.

Some of the longer interventions looked at specific populations. One, for example, investigated the impact of 10 organised runs on homeless people, finding a significant positive correlation with perceived self-sufficiency. Furthermore, two studies investigated the effects in children and found that running significantly improved creativity and self-esteem. An additional three studies looked at marathon training programmes. One found a positive, though not significant, correlation between running and self-efficacy, while another found a significant increase in self-efficacy over the programme. Finally, one study utilised participants who had already enrolled in a marathon race. Here, anxiety decreased initially during training, but increased as marathon day approached 

Readers’ Experiences

A couple of weeks ago, we asked our readers whether they had experienced benefits to their mental health from running. We didn’t want to guide responses, so simply asked readers to share, in their own words, what they perceived the benefits to be.

We’ve taken a few excerpts from those responses to share with you. We hope you find them relatable, interesting, and hopefully they inspire you to lace up your shoes (as if you needed a reason!)

Running seems to use enough energy that I don't feel edgy.  It quiets my mind enough to focus and forces me to breathe in a way to produce the best run but quiet the panic and the mind at the same time.  Long term, running and high intensity movements seem to keep me balanced enough to handle crisis points / emergencies when needed, but also help me stay on focused on the situation.

I cannot overstate the positive impact running has had on my mental health … being out on the trails, alone with my thoughts .. it’s a really good time for me to mull over any issues I may be having.

Every time I took a long break from running, I would feel what I called excess energy … I couldn’t sit still or focus and my mind would be overanalysing things constantly. So I would get back into the routine and start feeling better pretty quickly … I also feel like I’m more engaged at work and in my family life when I am running regularly.

For me, more than any sport I’ve participated in, running gives me so much self-belief and gratitude. At first, running 5 kilometres, or even just for 5 minutes, seems an unlikely proposition. But then you do it and think, right, what else can I do I’d previously perceived to be too difficult? I think this then spills into other aspects of your life. Whatever difficulties you’re facing, however hard they may be, you start to believe you can tackle them … Where gratitude is concerned, I just think it’s astonishing how far your legs can take you. Whenever a run gets tough, or when the doubts start creeping in about my ability to complete a run, I remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to attempt such distances. Again, that gratitude extends to other aspects of life.

Conclusion

While results from the scoping review were largely positive, it’s critical to note some cautionary findings and limitations. In a study of male regular runners who were “deprived” of running for two weeks, somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction, and symptoms of depression were all significantly greater than participants who were allowed to continue their regular running routine. We’re all likely to experience periods where we’re unable to run, whether due to injury or other life circumstances. It’s therefore key to have in our locker additional coping mechanisms to carry us through said periods.

Additionally, one limitation of the review is the small number of studies focused on clinical populations. While some studies did find an anti-depressive effect in patients with minor to moderate psychiatric problems, this did not extent to patients with Major Depressive Disorder due to issues with compliance and motivation. Consequently, more research is needed to understand how best to introduce such interventions to this population.

While many of the studies in the scoping review outlined above show improvements in a multitude of mental health outcomes, research has typically been quantitative-centric (typically, numerical improvements on scales related to mental health outcomes), therefore failing to capture participants’ explanations for why they find running so beneficial.

The aim of this article is not to plug evidentiary gaps, but rather to spread awareness of people’s experience by sharing the often ignored qualitative insights into the quantitative changes highlighted in research.

The experiences of our readers indicate a number of ways through which running may benefit mental health. Quietening the mind, providing space or opportunity to contemplate challenging life circumstances, expelling excess energy, improving self-efficacy, and enhancing gratitude, were among the most commonly cited benefits.

Future research would benefit from mixed-methodologies wherein both quantitative and qualitative data are collected, as well as a higher concentration on studies with diverse sample sizes, clinical populations, and those under 18.

Nonetheless, the existing literature, readers’ anecdotes, and my own personal experience seems to demonstrate a largely positive relationship between running and beneficial outcomes for mental health. We’d say you’ve even fewer reasons not to dust off the cobwebs from your runners and hit the road, trail, or even treadmill!

If you’re reading this as a non-runner interested in the sport, why not check out our recent article on last season’s running shoes for some cheap(er) ways into the sport.

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