The benefits of moving for your mental health

As we approach World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10th October, there is no better time to consider new ways in which we can manage our mental health and wellbeing. There are a number of lifestyle changes that can be made to help improve or maintain good mental health and moving more is one of them.

Ezra Hewing, Head of Mental Health Education at Suffolk Mind explains why movement is so important for our mental health...

Getting the right amount of movement each week is important to good mental wellbeing. Whenever we do exercise, our bodies release endorphins to reward us. Endorphins are the body's pleasure chemicals, making us feel good, encouraging us to keep exercising. However, each time we do some exercise, the amount of endorphins we receive is reduced, which motivates us to do more or try something different; so if you are a finely tuned athlete you will need to do more exercise to get more feel-good rewards. But for most people, just doing thirty minutes of exercise a few times a week is enough to significantly improve mood.

Research shows that regular exercise can be just as effective as medication at lifting depression and reducing anxiety. However, with exercise, you don't have the potential unpleasant side effects and it can be effective at raising mood much more quickly than medication.

Movement also helps reduce high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In small amounts, cortisol is useful to gently alert the cells in our body and brain, and activate our defences against injuries and infections. However, if our emotional needs are poorly met, the increased levels of stress cause more cortisol to be released. High levels of cortisol can damage brain cells and cause physical inflammation. It can also inhibit the immune system, making us more vulnerable to bugs and viruses.

If stress goes unaddressed it can trigger a number of physical conditions too, such as high-blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, skin conditions including eczema, and alopecia, and heart conditions. Low intensity exercise, such as going for a brisk walk, reduces cortisol levels.

There may be another reason to be physically active too; brains only exist in animals which need to move. A plant doesn't have a brain, because it doesn't need to move; animals on the other hand have brains as we need to plan how we will move to get food, keep warm and stay safe. But if we don't use the brain to move about, then connections in the brain start to wither away. Research shows, for example, that if we spend too much time at a desk, or on the sofa, without regular breaks to get up and move about, we are at increased risk of depression. If we don't use the brain, we lose the brain.

So meeting the need to move, improves our mood by making us feel good, reduces the effects of stress, and protects the brain too.

If this has inspired you to do something to improve your mental health for World Mental Health Day, find out how you could get involved by clicking HERE

Active Wellbeing Service in Suffolk

The Active Wellbeing Service is now running in four locations across Suffolk; Two Rivers Medical Centre (Ipswich), Eye Medical Centre, Holbrook and Shotley Health Centre and Glemsford Surgery. If you are a patient in any of these surgeries, you can sign up for support by calling the Active Suffolk team on 01394 444605 or by completing an online referral form by clicking HERE

Alternatively, for further information please contact the Physical Activity Advisor for your area:

Janet Lawrence - Physical Activity Advisor for The Shotley & Holbrook Practice
07557 633724
janet.lawrence@activesuffolk.org

Chris Lawson - Physical Activity Advisor for Glemsford Surgery
07748 181434
chris.lawson@activesuffolk.org

Mair Potter - Physical Activity Advisor for Eye Health Centre & Two Rivers Medical Centre
07557 633824
mair.potter@activesuffolk.org