MOVEMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health conditions are becoming increasingly prevalent in Australia — particularly anxiety and depression. Exercise can be paradoxical for mental health conditions, as quite often the moment where we will benefit most from exercise is the time where motivation and mood are at an all-time low.

Exercise is therapeutic for anxiety and depression. However, the benefits do add up over time, and it is best to get started when things are still feeling manageable. Having said that, it is never too late to try and move to change your mood. Here are some of the best ways that exercise will help your mood, mind and body

The benefits of exercise for anxiety & depression do add up over time.

Exercise and depression.

The benefits of being active for managing depression include increasing serotonin levels, improving self-esteem, improved work performance and socialization.

When compared to anti-depressant medication, a landmark study showed that 4 months of exercise was comparable in achieving remission from major depressive disorder. The best types of exercise for depression appear to be

team sports, cycling, aerobic training and resistance training, accumulating up to 1.5-3 hours per week (so basically, any exercise done regularly that you enjoy!) Exercise and anxiety. Anxiety manifests uniquely from person to person, but fortunately the research supports exercising across the board. It is thought that exercise provides a distraction from worries and unpleasant bodily sensations, as well as regulating the nervous system when it is heightened. Exercise which unites the breath and bodily movements, such as Pilates, yoga and tai chi, can also be efficacious due to their mindfulness component.

Applying the research to real life.

Here are the top tips on getting active in the face of mental distress:

1. The best exercise is something that you’ll come back to.

This could include regular walking, a class at the gym, or perhaps some non-traditional sport like fencing or hula hooping. The key message from the research is that enjoyment is more important than intensity and duration when it comes to improving mood.

2. Find your support network.

When you are in the throes of mental distress, feelings of isolation can creep in and take hold. Having a trusted, safety net of people can be ideal for voicing emotions and concerns — perhaps a close family member, partner, friend or health professional whom you can easily reach when needed. If external motivation and guidance is required, an Accredited Exercise Physiologist who specializes in exercise and mental health can put together a plan and set some achievable goals to provide that extra drive. A GP can assist in making this referral.

3. Use exercise as a circuit breaker.

Decision making and rational thought tend to go out the window when we’re not feeling our best. In psychological

settings, a ‘circuit breaker’ is anything which interrupts the thought pattern and provides some distance between us and our thoughts. This could be a warm bath, a cup of tea, a phone call with someone in our support network, or even better — a brisk walk around the block. 1. The ‘short walk’ strategy.

A good strategy to get going when motivation is low, is to promise yourself that it’s only going t o be a short walk, and that you can come back at any moment — often by the time you’ve stepped out into the fresh air, with a change of scenery, the thoughts have lost their grip and we are able to gain some much-needed perspective.

Always remember that you are only ever 20-30 minutes away from creating a shift in anxious and depressed mood states using exercise and the neurotransmitters of the brain.

Jennifer Smallridge is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist at Beyond in Blackburn and Hawthorn (Victoria); as well as an Academic Lecturer in the fields of Exercise Science and Functional Human Anatomy.