CARING FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

How to harness the power of exercise to nurture your mental health

Words: Lucy Waterlow

|| Exercise is a vehicle that can bring us together. By running with someone else, you can have a good catch-up, while being active at the same time. It’s a win-win ||

Feeling good

Physical activity is an effective way to enhance our mental health because it prompts our brains to release feel-good hormones. These hormones boost happiness, self-esteem and improve the quality of our sleep. Extra benefits can be gained if you exercise with others. Laura explains: “Exercising with other people – such as by running and chatting, or taking part in any type of team sport – provides a space and reason to bring people together. It creates a community, which is something all human beings need.” She also notes that modern life sometimes starves us of this essential human contact, saying: “Opportunities to meet and chat to each other seem to be getting fewer, with so many people now mostly working from home. In places like supermarkets, you can also avoid talking to anyone by using self-service tills.

“In contrast, exercise is a vehicle that can bring us together. By running with someone else, you can have a good catch up, while being active at the same time.” It’s a win-win.

For some, getting active can even be life-saving. “People experiencing serious mental health problems can have a life expectancy of 15-20 years fewer than the national average,” Laura says. “This is mostly down to the physical health issues they’ve developed due to inactivity. So becoming more active, even just slightly, is key to improving quality of life, both physically and mentally.”

Breaking down barriers However, knowing something is good for us and actually being able to do it, are two different things. Women face numerous barriers in their bid to get active, from fears over the safety of running alone, to body image worries, and fitting in training around other responsibilities.

Those with mental health issues have even more hurdles to overcome. Crippling social anxiety, debilitating depression, and the side effects of medication might affect them accessing the very thing that could help them feel better. That’s why Sport in Mind was founded in Reading in 2010, with the mission to “improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems through sport and physical activity”.