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Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

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Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#11

Post by raverbashing »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

I think most people associate "physical exercise" with having to spend an hour at the gym or something similar.

What they should be thinking is: going for a walk around the block, not getting the car for close by errands, not taking the elevator, going for a bike ride, etc

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#12

Post by taneq »

I'm interested to see how VR affects overall mental health among gamers. There seems to be some crossover between heavy duty gamers and mental health struggles (just from my own observation) and VR is starting to be a natural progression for gaming. And VR gaming is often a real work-out, focusing on a lot of movement as well as physical dexterity.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#13

Post by markroseman »

sgillen wrote: post #8
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

> I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category I’m sure most people have a pretty good idea exercise can help with mental health. I think the next thing that needs to happen is a broader awareness of just how effective exercise can be, and that it should be one of the very first thing tried to improve mental health. I think this should happen along with a general increase in mental health awareness (you can…

Agreed for most people with mild-moderate mental illness. It's an intervention that can reduce intensity for quite a number of people, though not everyone. (I wish more people would also get checked early on for easily fixed metabolic stuff like low iron, wonky thyroid etc.)

My completely anecdotal example... it kept me from starting crazy meds for at least an extra year or two (by the time I was up to 1-2 hours, 7d/week, it was time to bite the bullet.. though at lower doses than I likely would have otherwise needed.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#14

Post by Nasrudith »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

I think the next step is to try and examine causation vs correlation via known already bad patients. If say psychiatric inpatients within hospitals start adding in more exercise programs would they have improved patient results? The setting is also important for ethics - if it may worsen patient outcomes one should be ready to prevent further harm.

Or it could theoretically be like trying to treat muscular dystrophy via 100 lb bench presses - the system is too far gone for it to help.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#15

Post by Pamar »

raverbashing wrote: post #11
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

I think most people associate "physical exercise" with having to spend an hour at the gym or something similar. What they should be thinking is: going for a walk around the block, not getting the car for close by errands, not taking the elevator, going for a bike ride, etc

Yes, even just the "10K steps a day" idea is vastly better than nothing...

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#16

Post by Kyrztyn »

ec109685 wrote: post #5

How does a study like this control for the fact that if you are depressed, you might not want to exercise that day? And thus it’s mental health that drives how much you exercise, not the other way around?

If these studies were not behind paywalls people might better understand what they mean.

They did not establish causality in the study and they also said that inactivity might be a symptom of poor mental health. The people who had less mental health days might not be physically ill, but rather, socially ill. If you read the full study and some of the interesting demographics you will see what I mean.

It really tells us nothing but puts more stigma on people who are ill making it seem like it is their fault they are sick.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#17

Post by pjc50 »

diss wrote: post #3
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

Well, it could mean that mental health professionals push exercise significantly more as a treatment. A lot of people see psychologists and doctors about mental health.

They already do .. badly. There was an excellent thread on twitter the other day along the lines of "I went to my doctor saying I was suicidal and got sent away with this worksheet" - a whole collection of completely inadequate responses to acute mental health issues.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#18

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

Nasrudith wrote: post #14
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #2

This is sure to quickly fill with personal anecdotes, I can attest to experiencing this phenomena myself, but I wonder what we can do with this information? I think it's already in the "everybody knows" category, so how do we get those who need it the most to take advantage of it? The extreme presentation of these conditions typically impedes one from becoming physically active, thought I do look forward to the succe…

I think the next step is to try and examine causation vs correlation via known already bad patients. If say psychiatric inpatients within hospitals start adding in more exercise programs would they have improved patient results? The setting is also important for ethics - if it may worsen patient outcomes one should be ready to prevent further harm. Or it could theoretically be like trying to treat muscular dystrophy…

> 100 lb bench presses

C'mon, no shaming the 100 lbs bench press - I absolutely encourage someone whose benching 100 lbs to bench, because if they work hard pretty quickly it won't be 100 lbs any more.

And you raise an excellent point - is exercising the thing boosting the mood, or is the exercising the result of a mood boost.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#19

Post by themodelplumber »

I personally find that exercise only contributes to good mental health outcomes when it is part of a system that monitors and directly, daily, addresses issues of physical exhaustion. Experiencing exhaustion and a desire to push through it was my personal #1 link to depression and anxiety. I found that just laying in bed and relaxing has a much higher likelihood of vanquishing my depression and anxiety than exercise ever did, and exercise, even a simple walk, can actually make the symptoms worse by contributing to the exhaustion.

This is _my own analysis and experience_, of course, so YMMV. There are additional important approaches to anxiety, like identifying stressors that need to be addressed (situations, goals, relationships, etc.) and attending to various facets that contribute to a feeling of purpose and promise. But after learning to look at my symptoms through the lens of "exhaustion" (whether it be productivity exhaustion or fitness-induced) I no longer suffer from chronic severe anxiety and depression, and my psychiatrist long ago pronounced me cured. Some people here may benefit so I share this in case it helps.

Re: Association between physical exercise and mental health: a cross-sectional study

#20

Post by markroseman »

Retric wrote: post #9
ec109685 wrote: post #5

How does a study like this control for the fact that if you are depressed, you might not want to exercise that day? And thus it’s mental health that drives how much you exercise, not the other way around?

Mental health goes beyond depression. So, one option is to ignore depression and look at other things.

Good point. The value in this one is the large size of the data set, but mental illness is hardly a uniform phenomenon, so if you fit the "mental illness" category it doesn't say much about how many people in their data set really overlap with you. And it can make a difference. High intensity exercise still can help many people with depression, but is often counterproductive for anxiety, where low-moderate intensity can be helpful.
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