Limit Exercise Session, Avoid Depression

Exerting Too Much Strain Affects Mental Health

‘Too much of anything is good for nothing’ and the proverb holds good in terms of exercising too! It’s a rarity when we find someone who’s against exercising and practically, it’s impossible to get hold of such a person. Until today we haven’t discovered a miracle drug for weight loss (there are claims everywhere on the net about such drugs, but their value is close to zero when compared to its side effects) and the closest one we can recommend till date is exercise! 

Time It!
Depression is growing to be a major health problems and humanity is faced with yet another task of improving mental health through different approaches. Exercise has been linked to lower mental health risks irrespective of the individual’s age, race, gender or education. The type, duration and frequency are gamechangers that finally link certain people with certain exercise forms best-suited for improving mental health.

The general recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) for adults between 18 and 64 years of age is to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity through the week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week. There have been various studies supporting the fact that exercise improves mental health and prevents people from going into depression. Meanwhile certain study results show that inactivity could promote poor mental health and activeness could promote resilience. A bit curious about this, a group of researchers wanted to find out if there was an ideal amount of activity that garnered maximum benefit for a person. Apart from exercise there are multiple other things that help us improve mental health. Its upon us to choose rightly and save ourselves from ruining our minds. For practical ideas on effective mental health solutions please visit the website www.firsteatright.com.

The researchers included data from 1.2 million adults about their physical health, mental health and health behavior. It also questioned the individuals if they were suffering from depression but ignored all other mental health disorders. Factors such as age, sex, marital status, income, education, BMI, physical health and depression risks were adjusted. Results showed that on an average:

• Individuals suffered from 3.4 days of poor mental health every month. In comparison to non-exercisers those who exercised experienced 1.5 fewer days of poor mental health each month. Number of poor mental days are almost halved (43%). Its 2 days for people who exercised compared to 3.4 days for those who did not.
• The reduction in fewer mental health days was greatest (3.75 fewer days equivalent to almost 34.5%) for people who were diagnosed with depression earlier. It was 7.1 days for people who exercised versus 10.9 days for those who did not. 
• Together there were 75 types of exercise practiced by the 1.2 million participants and these exercises were split into eight categories-aerobic and gym exercise, cycling, household, team sports, recreational activity, running/jogging, walking and winter/water sports. While all types of exercises showed positive signs, maximum results were seen in the case of team sports, cycling, aerobic and gym exercise (22.3%, 21.6% and 20.1% fewer days of poor mental health).
• Other factors also contributed to reduction in poor mental health. For example, people studying, with a normal BMI and earning more experienced fewer mental health days compared to those without education, suffering from obesity and earning less respectively. 
• People who exercised between 30 and 60 minutes expressed greatest reduction in poor mental health. Those exercising for 90 minutes a day experienced small reduction in mental health and those who exercised for more than 180 minutes experienced worst mental health (it was worse than those who avoided exercising completely).
  
  

It has been generally assumed that more the exercise done greater are its advantages. But the present study has proved it wrong. Exercising for more than 23 days or 90 minutes per day worsened the effects of poor mental health. Another valuable point that the study offers is that team sports was associated with the lowest mental health burden indicating that moving with people, keeping away from isolation and being friendly reduces chances of depression.
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Exercise but stick to your timings, eat but stick to your portions and sleep but stick to your sleeping hours. Eat right, play smart and be active.