The Effectiveness of Physical Activity on Enhancing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Review Study

Background: The present article is a review with the aim of investigating the effects of exercise and physical activity on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in different populations. Methods: To collect information, articles were first searched using the keywords of “generalizes anxiety disorder”, “sport”, “acute exercise”, “aerobic training”, and “resistance training”. The research was conducted between 2015 and 2020, and the databases used included Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Springer. Finally, 12 articles met the standard and set criteria and were selected. After selecting the articles, the information related to each extracted article was reviewed using a specific checklist and in summary form. Findings: The types of aerobic and strength training used to improve GAD in different people have had positive results (including improvement of sleep and personality and improvement of anxiety disorders). Research also shows that the mechanisms that cause exercise to have such effects are a combination of biological and psychological factors. Conclusion: Physical activity while reducing the symptoms and complications of mental illness can act as an effective treatment and even prevention for anxiety disorders such as GAD.