Running helped snooker star battle depression

Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan believes running has helped him turn his life around.

The troubled sportsman – regarded as many as the most talented player ever to pick up a cue – says running has helped him deal with depression and get his career back on track.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: does running really help to ease depression?

And can we believe someone who after being knocked out of major competitions has continually insisted he was going to quit the sport?

He even walked out halfway through a quarter-final match against Stephen Hendry at the UK Championships two years ago.

Well, yes, actually. Certainly, research by the Mental Health Foundation suggests that regular exercise can release feel-good chemicals in the brain that will certainly make you feel better about yourself.

It also gives you more self-esteem, gives you a greater sense of purpose and puts you in contact with people who have shared goals, which can relieve the feelings of isolation.

“[Running] is the best therapy I’ve ever had,” said O’Sullivan, who admitted to taking Prozac earlier in his career to battle his demons.

In fact, more and more GPs in the Great Britain are now prescribing exercise as a means of beating depression.

However, experts are also very quick to point out that it is NOT some kind of ‘miracle cure’. A point, Ronnie himself confesses.

He said: “I am not saying exercise has beaten my depression, or that I have found a magical cure, but running helps me keep it at bay.”

Source: BBC News