YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hello, I have a question. Why do some coping mechanisms are considered good (exercising) and others bad (self-harming, alcohol). I mean, I exercise daily (running, stretching, working-out) and exercising HURTS. But everyone says it's good to exercise. I have several tattoos. They hurt when I had them done. But tattoos are now considered ok. I cut myself. It hurts (no more, no less than exercising) but that's considered bad. Why?
People say cutting can become addictive, that's why it's bad. But exercising is addictive too, so what's the difference? These are all different ways for me to hurt myself, feel pain, punish myself and my body (I hate myself and my body). So who can explain to me why exercising is good for you and cutting bad?

Many thanks in advance.

I think the general thought is that exercise makes you healthier as long as it isn't tied into an eating disorder. Honestly, I think if you are compulsively exercising and it is interfering with your life it probably isn't a good thing.

I am no longer in the practice of exercising at the level I did for many decades, but I can coach, in one manner of putting it.

The absolutely necessity to any style of exercising is stretching exercises. You absolutely have to be doing stretching exercises, or you are definitely harming your system.

AND you cannot do stretching exercises when your muscles are cold and too relaxed. That is even more important.

You warm up with some really mild forms of exercises, like the leg lifts in place. Could be some distance walking at a moderate pace is good and then the leg lifts. Reason for focusing on your legs is they are the primary target for the stretching, but not the only area that needs stretching.

If you are really serious about learning how to do this I can teach you. I was a 2nd dan in TaeKwonDo and a 1st dan in Judo and taught Taekwondo at the professional level and I was playing in the International League on Merrill Lynch's softball team in my mid fifties and still able to do a good job, so I kept myself in rather good shape up to that point in time. I'm only explaining that so you might feel I am no farce. Of course, you'll only know that once I fully explain a good routine for exercising and you can then see I am no farce, but it will also require a fair bit of remembering at my end and then properly explaining it in print here.

So let me know if you are interested and if you are I'll do what I can to help you out.