Exercise is often pointed to as the simple solution for mental health struggles. Depressed? Go for a run. Anxious? Try the gym. For some, that might even be the perfect kick starter. But for many, those “simple” prescriptions feel out of reach—or even impossible—when mental health gets in the way.
That tension is at the center of Madeleine Connolly’s research. A research psychologist and postdoctoral scholar at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Connolly studies the psychological barriers that can make exercise difficult to start or sustain, even when its benefits are understood. What sets Connolly’s research apart is that her work focuses on people experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression rather than focusing solely on formal diagnoses.
Connolly has always been interested in the intersection between the brain and the body, and that deepened as she noticed how differently people experiencing anxiety or depression relate to exercise. For many, loss of motivation in depression or fear associated with anxiety can turn physical activity into an overwhelming task, even when its benefits are recognized.
Connolly’s interest in this topic emerged through personal experiences. Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, she often spoke with peers struggling with anxiety or depression. When she suggested exercise as something she personally found helpful, the responses were frequently negative.
“I kind of always wondered what was behind that,” Connolly said. “Is there another layer for people who are struggling with their mental health to get started with something like exercise?”
Those questions became the foundation of her doctoral research, which explored whether internal barriers—such as fear or low motivation—play a larger role than a lack of perceived benefit. Rather than assuming people with anxiety or depression simply do not value exercise, Connolly wanted to understand whether psychological symptoms interfere with people’s ability to act on benefits they already recognize.
Her doctoral research relied on survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of heightened anxiety, depression, disrupted routines, and widespread gym closures, which created conditions where psychological barriers to exercise were especially visible. She examined symptoms along a continuum rather than formal diagnoses, capturing responses from individuals across a wide range of mental health experiences.
She found that individuals reporting higher levels of anxiety or depression also noted more barriers to exercise—but not fewer perceived benefits.
“They had higher barriers but still saw the benefits. Everyone across the board tends to see mental health-related benefits to exercise,” Connolly said.
Her findings suggest the challenge is not convincing people that exercise helps but addressing the obstacles that make it difficult to begin.
In a separate study of individuals with chronic pain diagnoses, Connolly found that mental health challenges and physical pain were often intertwined. The findings reinforced her broader conclusion that mental health-related barriers to exercise can be amplified when psychological and physical challenges coexist.
“That was a group who did seem to have particular struggles in terms of the mental health part as well as the pain part,” Connolly said, noting how difficult it was to disentangle the two when it came to exercise.
After her PhD, Connolly worked at Deakin University conducting clinical interviews for a lifestyle-based depression trial. The role allowed her to build clinical skills, but she ultimately wanted to return to academic research. Following her PhD advisor’s guidance, she pursued postdoctoral opportunities in the United States, where larger institutions offered broader research infrastructure.
Connolly joined the Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory, an interdisciplinary kinesiology lab running two NIH- and NIMH-funded randomized clinical trials examining exercise as a treatment for major depressive disorder. One study focuses on resistance exercise, while the other pairs aerobic exercise with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Working within a kinesiology department has expanded Connolly’s methodological toolkit and exposed her to research approaches that would have been harder to access in Australia. She noted that moving to the United States made it easier to work across disciplines, an opportunity that can be more difficult to navigate within Australian academic structures. She views her time at UW–Madison as a critical stage in her academic path, planning to carry those skills back with her as she establishes her own lab and continues studying the psychological barriers that shape how people engage with exercise.
Across her work, Connolly has returned to the same observation that first drew her to the field: that struggles around exercise and mental health are deeply personal, but also widely shared.
“When it comes to mental health, it’s interesting to think about it cross-culturally,” Connolly said. “We might come from different sides of the world, but we face similar pressures—and those pressures can manifest in similar ways. Everyone can be susceptible to different kinds of struggles.”