Jog On: How Running Saved My Life

Name: Jog On: How Running Saved My Life
Author: Bella Mackie
ISBN: 0008241724

by Bella Mackie

My last one is a more recent one, by the journalist Bella Mackie, called Jog On . It’s about how she used running to cope with mental health problems. I wanted to include it because it’s a great example of what anxiety is really like when it is very severe. She’s had far worse problems than I have ever had. In the book she describes having OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and experiencing dissociation or feelings of unreality. Her whole life was dictated by these symptoms and disorders, to the point where she dropped out of university and was very limited in the things that she felt able to do because of her anxiety. “Everyone I know who’s prey to these problems finds exercise an essential part of their toolkit to help them cope” There’s a quote from the book: ‘I begged to be committed, to be sectioned. Anything to quit this life, which I found too hard. I felt like I hadn’t been given the requisite armour for the game, and I didn’t want to play.’ I think it powerfully captures how, when you are in such a full-blown state of anxiety, even walking to the shops is too scary, answering the phone is too scary, sleeping in a room on your own is too scary. She conveys how it feels when everything’s just too loud and too difficult. It’s a useful part of the public conversation, to have these memoirs and examples of people who really do experience extreme anxiety. A relationship broke down when she was in her late 20s. And she describes that as her lowest point. Then, to try and climb out of that hole, she started running. It’s a memoir about anxiety, but it’s also about how running helped her cope. It’s an important book in that way, because everyone I know who’s prey to these problems finds exercise an essential part of their toolkit to help them cope. It’s a hopeful book. It’s a good message about coping mechanisms and how exercise can be a part of that. The other thing I wanted to say about it is that she’s honest about saying that her anxiety hasn’t gone away completely. She says: ‘It’s vital to find the thing that alleviates your mental health issues. And it’s just as important to recognize that you will still have these issues.’ That’s useful and important. She describes her worries at some point as a shadow of what they were before, which I think is a good analogy. You can do all sorts of things to cope and to dampen down and manage anxiety, and to live alongside it, but the goal is never to eliminate it. It’s a very accessible book and it’s been extremely popular. It’s one of the few things that I’ve read recently where I’ve really felt the author captures what it’s like to be in that extreme state of anxiety. Yes. Often, if you have one, you’ll have the other. They’re both examples of repetitive negative thinking. If you have a brain that’s prone to repetitive negative thinking, and/or life experiences that have reinforced these negative thoughts, then you’ll be doing that with respect to the past—which is key to depression—as well as the future—which is key to anxiety. They’re both about being negative, having a kind of negative bias, seeing the worst in things and viewing things badly. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter They’re also both physical disorders. It’s a bit of a misnomer when we say ‘mental disorders’ because both depression and anxiety are felt in the body as much as in the mind. Finally, the two disorders can play off each other. You can become anxious about the fact that you’re depressed and depressed about the fact that you’re so anxious that you can’t leave the house, for example. If you feel that trapped by anxiety, that’s going to have a knock-on effect on your mood. Definitely. Bella Mackie talks about how important it was to have both therapy and medication. I did both. I think the funny thing is that, if you do both in parallel and your anxiety improves, you never really know which one was most important. But there should be absolutely no shame in considering medication as an option. It’s essential for some people. It’s good to do both at the same time, because the medication puts you in a better headspace that allows you to engage with the therapy. The most important thing is to find out what works for you. Everyone is different. It’s a case of finding the best approach for you that helps you manage anxiety.

Recommended by

Lucy Foulkes

"My last one is a more recent one, by the journalist Bella Mackie, called Jog On . It’s about how she used running to cope with mental health problems. I wanted to include it because it’s a great example of what anxiety is really like when it is very severe. She’s had far worse problems than I have ever had. In the book she describes having OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and experiencing dissociation or feelings of unreality. Her whole life was dictated by these symptoms and disorders, to the point where she dropped out of university and was very limited in the things that she felt able to do because of her anxiety. “Everyone I know who’s prey to these problems finds exercise an essential part of their toolkit to help them cope” There’s a quote from the book: ‘I begged to be committed, to be sectioned. Anything to quit this life, which I found too hard. I felt like I hadn’t been given the requisite armour for the game, and I didn’t want to play.’ I think it powerfully captures how, when you are in such a full-blown state of anxiety, even walking to the shops is too scary, answering the phone is too scary, sleeping in a room on your own is too scary. She conveys how it feels when everything’s just too loud and too difficult. It’s a useful part of the public conversation, to have these memoirs and examples of people who really do experience extreme anxiety. A relationship broke down when she was in her late 20s. And she describes that as her lowest point. Then, to try and climb out of that hole, she started running. It’s a memoir about anxiety, but it’s also about how running helped her cope. It’s an important book in that way, because everyone I know who’s prey to these problems finds exercise an essential part of their toolkit to help them cope. It’s a hopeful book. It’s a good message about coping mechanisms and how exercise can be a part of that. The other thing I wanted to say about it is that she’s honest about saying that her anxiety hasn’t gone away completely. She says: ‘It’s vital to find the thing that alleviates your mental health issues. And it’s just as important to recognize that you will still have these issues.’ That’s useful and important. She describes her worries at some point as a shadow of what they were before, which I think is a good analogy. You can do all sorts of things to cope and to dampen down and manage anxiety, and to live alongside it, but the goal is never to eliminate it. It’s a very accessible book and it’s been extremely popular. It’s one of the few things that I’ve read recently where I’ve really felt the author captures what it’s like to be in that extreme state of anxiety. Yes. Often, if you have one, you’ll have the other. They’re both examples of repetitive negative thinking. If you have a brain that’s prone to repetitive negative thinking, and/or life experiences that have reinforced these negative thoughts, then you’ll be doing that with respect to the past—which is key to depression—as well as the future—which is key to anxiety. They’re both about being negative, having a kind of negative bias, seeing the worst in things and viewing things badly. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter They’re also both physical disorders. It’s a bit of a misnomer when we say ‘mental disorders’ because both depression and anxiety are felt in the body as much as in the mind. Finally, the two disorders can play off each other. You can become anxious about the fact that you’re depressed and depressed about the fact that you’re so anxious that you can’t leave the house, for example. If you feel that trapped by anxiety, that’s going to have a knock-on effect on your mood. Definitely. Bella Mackie talks about how important it was to have both therapy and medication. I did both. I think the funny thing is that, if you do both in parallel and your anxiety improves, you never really know which one was most important. But there should be absolutely no shame in considering medication as an option. It’s essential for some people. It’s good to do both at the same time, because the medication puts you in a better headspace that allows you to engage with the therapy. The most important thing is to find out what works for you. Everyone is different. It’s a case of finding the best approach for you that helps you manage anxiety."

Anxiety · fivebooks.com