Working it out in the gym: resistance training reduces irritability – Darragh o’sullivan.

Irritability in Anxiety and Depression

Irritability is characterized by disproportionately excessive, easily provoked anger, annoyance, or impatience, and can be experienced as a temporary state, or a persistent trait. Individuals with irritable mood may appear snappy, and friends or family may feel as if they are ‘walking on egg shells’ around them. Of course, sometimes feeling on edge, or easily annoyed, is a normal human response to unmet physiological needs, such as hunger or tiredness. However, persistent irritable mood can signal an underlying mental illness, including anxiety or depression. Research links irritability with greater risks of developing anxiety and depression, suicidal thoughts, and additional psychological and behavioural burdens of these disorders.

Resistance Training Can Reduce Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Irritability

Despite its significance as a transdiagnostic symptom of at least 15 mental illnesses, evidence for targeted treatments for irritability is limited. Traditional depression and anxiety treatments (e.g., antidepressant medication or cognitive behavioural therapy) can reduce anger, but little research has investigated potential treatments explicitly for irritable mood.

Resistance training, or weightlifting, is a promising exercise modality with well-established positive effects on anxiety and depressive symptoms, and, consequently, may be a viable treatment option for irritable mood. Only one study has previously investigated resistance training effects on irritability symptoms, and found large improvements in the frequency and intensity of irritability among young women with Generalized Anxiety Disorder following a six-week lower body resistance training program. Our group has recently expanded on that by investigating the effects of an eight-week guidelines-based resistance training program with upper (e.g., bench press, bicep curls) and lower (e.g., squat, lunges) body exercises on irritability symptoms among healthy young adults, and young adults with at least subclinical Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Our early, unpublished findings showed large improvements in the frequency and intensity of irritability symptoms, providing further support for resistance training as a treatment option for persistent irritable mood.

These research findings confirm that it is possible to ‘blow off steam’ in the gym, and counteract feelings of anger or annoyance with regular resistance exercise.

Our Current Work

Our group is currently running a novel randomized controlled trial of resistance training effects among young adult women with at least subclinical Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This new trial investigates the effects of moderate-to-high compared to low intensity guidelines-based resistance training on signs and symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, including anxiety, depressive, and irritability symptoms, among this at-risk, under researched population.