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In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experience a mental illness or addiction problem (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2013). Since the prevalence of mental illness is so high people are constantly searching for a new way to positively deal with the side effects that are associated. One potential treatment plan for coping with mental illness is physical activity. I wish to explore the effect physical activity has on mental health - more specifically the benefits exercise has on improving depression, anxiety, addiction, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
I chose to explore the effect of physical activity on mental illness for several different reasons. Personally, I live an active life-style and have been involved in a variety of exercise regimes throughout my entire life. While I am fortunate enough not to suffer with mental health problems, many people close to me have not been as lucky. I have seen first-hand the benefits exercise can have on mental health and have become heavily interested in exploring the correlation between the two; therefore, I have chosen to use this assignment as an opportunity to do this more in depth.
"Depression", defined by the American Psychiatric Association, is "a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home." (American Psychiatric Association, n.d).
The American Psychiatric Association explains "anxiety" as a "general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel and behave and can cause physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can seriously affect day-to-day living." (American Psychiatric Association, n.d.)
"Addiction" is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a "complex condition, a brain disease that is manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequence. People with addiction (severe substance use disorder) have an intense focus on using a certain substance(s), such as alcohol or drugs, to the point that it takes over their life. They keep using alcohol or a drug even when they know it will causes problems." (American Psychiatric Association, n.d.)
The American Psychiatric Association describes "PTSD" as "a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault." (American Psychiatric Association, n.d.)
Studies show that exercise can treat depression as effectively as antidepressant medication
No side-effects
Maintaining an exercise schedule can prevent relapsing
(Robinson et al., 2017)
Exercise is a powerful fighter against depression as it promotes all sorts of changes in the brain, such as neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote feelings of peace and comfort. Physical exercise releases the "happy chemical" endorphins, which are powerful substances in the brain that energize your spirits and generally make you feel good. Conclusively, exercise also has the ability to serve as a distraction, allowing you to find quiet time and essentially break out of the cycle of negative thoughts which feed depression.
(Robinson et al., 2017)
Alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal
Increase your overall productivity
Decrease energy wasted from mental anxiety and stress
(Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2013)
A number of acute changes occur during and following bouts of exercise. Potential psychological mechanisms of action include changes in body scheme and health attitudes/behaviors, social reinforcement, shift of external to more internal locus of control, improved coping strategies, and simple distraction (Robinson et al., 2017).
Currently, one commonly used treatment for substance addiction is drug replacement therapy, using substances such as methadone or buprenorphine. Both methadone and buprenorphine are long-acting opioid agonists that are used to treat addiction, by reducing substances craving behavior and suppressing abstinence symptoms. However, both methadone and buprenorphine have risk of addiction themselves which is where the interest for alternative treatments such as physical activity comes in. (Wang et al., 2014).
Exercise triggers a dopamine release so people get the "reward chemical" without the risk of becoming addicted to harmful substances (Robinson et al., 2017)
Abuse of drugs and alcohol cause an imbalance of chemicals in the brain that interfere with a person’s ability to feel pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction. Dedicated physical activity during treatment and recovery will help you reintroduce natural levels of endorphins in your system (Li, Zhuang, Zhang, Guo, & Wang, 2013)
Physical activity is affordable, accessible, and natural; making it a great potential treatment for addiction and SUD (Wang et al., 2014)
PTSD is commonly associated with combat veterans, but also often affects survivors of violent personal assaults, childhood abuse, natural disasters, and life-threatening illnesses
(PTSD Association, 2017)
According to the National Centre for PTSD about 8 out of every 100 people will experience PTSD at some point in their lives ("PTSD: Beyond Trauma", 2017)
Sexual assault is one of the most likely events to cause PTSD and women on average experience sexual assault more than men. Therefore, twice as many women as men suffer from PTSD ("PTSD: Beyond Trauma", 2017)
Low-to-moderate intensity exercise can elevate mood, reduce anxiety, and act as an overall stress-buffer (Muller, 2015)
Exercise increases respiratory sinus arrhythmia. This naturally occurring variation in heart rate is linked to higher levels of emotion-focused coping; which is disrupted in people with PTSD (Muller, 2015)
Treatment adherence is often a problem for PTSD sufferers, however, physical exercise has shown to have low drop out rates since it tends to re-establish a sense of achievement -specifically in veterans (Muller, 2015)
Aerobic exercise is also known as "cardio" and is anything that gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2008)
Mind-body exercise is a form of physical activity that combines body movement, mental focus, and controlled breathing to improve strength, balance, and flexibility (National Cancer Institute, n.d.)
In a study of more than 4,323 men and women, those individuals undertaking either moderate or vigorous physical activity were significantly less likely to develop depressive or anxiety symptoms, compared to those undertaking light physical activity or sedentary behaviour (Stanton et al., 2014).
RCT studies presented that long-term treadmill exercise at moderate-intensity (55–69% HR max) can effectively increase abstinence rate of drugs in SUD (Wang et al., 2014).
Studies show that as little as 10 minutes of physical activity per day may be beneficial (Robinson et al., 2017). For example, in a 10 year prospective study of almost 50,000 men and women, it was found the relative risk of depression and anxiety associated with 10–29 minutes of physical activity per day, compared to <10 minutes per day was statistically significant in favour of 10+ minutes per day. Increasing amounts of physical activity up to more than 90 minutes per day were associated with further significant reductions in the risk of depression and anxiety (Zschucke, Gaudlitz, & Ströhle, 2013).
Caddick and Smith (2014) found participating in regular exercise classes (3-5 times per week) helped veterans increase their energy levels and allowed them to manage their daily activities much better.Their exercise was also found to help counter the dampening and depressive tendencies associated with PTSD.
Throughout my research I have learned the effect of physical activity on different mental illnesses. Due to limited time I chose to keep my research simple and only explore four types of mental illnesses which I was interested in. By narrowing my research to a small number I was able to get a better, more in depth understanding of the benefits exercise has shown to have on depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD - both differently and similarly.
While I knew going into this topic that exercise was important, I did not realize the extent even just 10 minutes of exercise can have on a person's mental health. It's truly fascinating to explore the way in which exercise - a natural treatment - promotes all sorts of changes in the brain, such as neural growth, reduced inflammation, and the release of endorphins and dopamine.
Something I found similarly in all the studies I looked at was that aerobic exercise and mind-body exercise are the two most beneficial types of physical activity in regards to improving symptoms of depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD. However, physical activity such as resistance training requires more studies and research at this point in time.
Another thing I found similarly in a number of studies which I researched was that while any amount of exercise was beneficial, moderate and vigorous intensity exercises were the categories that showed the greatest benefits to improving mental illnesses.
In conclusion, while I find myself advocating for physical activity following my research, I am aware of the fact that no single treatment works successfully for every person and that exercise is just one of many different treatments that those suffering from mental health problems may turn to.
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