How does exercise assist Mental health conditions?
Mental health disorders present a major health burden in Australia with 1 in 5 Australians experiencing mental illness per year, and with increasing social factors and stressors there is a rise of mental health disorders. Most common mental illness diagnoses in Australia include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Mental illness can have a large impact on our lives by affecting our social and physical activities, hindering our ability to work, and affecting our relationships which can lead to isolation and further health burden. There is strong research for exercise improving the symptoms of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, even one bout of exercise per week can have a positive effect on our mental wellness.
The benefits of exercise on mental health can be linked to various physiological and psychological changes. Exercise alters the amount of certain neurotransmitters that play a part in our mental state such as dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate that are released in the body. It also has an affect of how easily receptors can uptake these neurotransmitters. There is research that suggests that exercise is just as effective as medication for managing the symptoms related to depression. Regular exercise can also reduce the negative side effects of some medications that are used to treat mental health disorders. Research on the effect of an acute bout of exercise found that there are many positive outcomes on mood, stress state, and cognition. They found that the most consistent outcomes include an improvement with cognitive tasks that are dependent on the pre-frontal cortex, a decrease in levels of stress, and an improvement in mood state. Exercise can also offer a chance to unwind and unplug from stressors in our lifestyles.
Engaging in regular exercise prescribed by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist Adelaide has been shown to:
- Improve cardiorespiratory fitness
- Help to manage and maintain a healthy weight (some mental illness medications can cause weight gain as a side effect)
- Decrease the symptoms of anxiety and depression
- Improve quality of sleep
- Improve chronic disease outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
The guidelines for exercise for mental health are similar to the guidelines for the general population. These guidelines suggest 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day, or 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week. There is strong research around the benefit of aerobic exercise for improving mental health, and evidence for strength training for improving mental health. Even a small amount of exercise is better than no exercise, so start at a comfortable pace and work your way up towards these guidelines if they seem too difficult at first. It is important to find a mode of exercise that you find enjoyable to increase the mental benefits of exercise. You can change the environment (exercise indoors, outdoors, in a park etc.), who you exercise with (exercising alone, with friends/family, with pets), and the type of exercise (walking, swimming, dancing, yoga, gardening etc.) to make it more enjoyable. Although exercise offers acute benefits regarding mental wellness, studies show that it can take eight weeks of a regular exercise routine to make significant improvements with mental illness such as depression.
If you need some help or guidance regarding getting started with some active exercise therapy and programming to begin the journey to better physiological and psychological well-being, reach out today and we are more than happy to assist, we have the many ways of helping!
If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental illness, reach out for support by calling Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
If you require support and guidance with an exercise program to assist with managing your mental health book in with one of our Accredited Exercise Physiologists for an individualised exercise plan.
Useful Links
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5928534/
https://exerciseright.com.au/mental-health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4621077/
https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/223730
https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199009060-00001
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032716300854
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378512217308563
https://www.scielo.br/j/clin/a/nJtsYg7cXYppsF7VZ7hhHXw/?format=pdf&lang=en
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites