Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

by John J. Ratey

I told the young man that the A-number-one thing he needed to do was exercise with somebody. That goes for anyone who is panicky. It offers a sense of safety, but it also increases levels of serotonin immediately, just from being around another person. In his case, I suggested that he exercise at home, or close to it, until he started to associate his elevated heart rate with a positive experience. He needed to find a type of exercise he enjoyed, and, because his panic seemed to have a strong genetic component, I told him he’d really have to work at it. He’d have to start doing at least fifteen minutes of rigorous aerobic exercise a day—running, swimming, biking, rowing, or whatever would get his heart pounding. Intensity was particularly important in his case because of the evidence that only rigorous exercise alleviates sensitivity to the physical arousal of anxiety.