Promoting the ‘exercise pill’

“Mental illness is something that many Australians will experience in their lifetime. While medications and other therapies are an important part of treatment and management, increasing evidence points to the importance of lifestyle factors such as exercise. Being more active in as many ways as possible, as often as possible, has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in some people and reduce the risk of future depressive episodes.

“Central Queensland University researchers recently published a systematic review that has gained much attention. We analysed a number of studies that reported positive mental health benefits from aerobic exercise, in people with depression. This review reported that exercise which is similar to that recommended for the general population; that is, aerobic exercise supervised by appropriately qualified personnel, performed at low to moderate, or self-selected intensity, on three to four days per week for at least nine weeks, is also likely to be of benefit for people with depression.

“We are now working on investigating the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of clinicians working in mental health on their view of exercise in the treatment of mental illness, and how their own personal exercise habits influence these views. We are evaluating the way people who are hospitalised due to mental illness respond to exercise as part of their treatment.”

(Source: CQUniversity)