The Importance Of Mental Health Disorders

Million of Americans go through the blues and sad moments from clinical depression each year. Most patients with depression first seek treatment from a therapist or a primary care provider. However, exercise is a developmental behavior intervention that has displayed strong promise in alleviating symptoms of depression. The objective is examine whether physical activity is associated with depression in an average size population based on gender and age. A total of 310 participates ( 123 Male and 184 females and 3 other ) of UO students and other random volunteered to participate. All participants age ranged from 14 to 99, had to completed two self- report questionnaires. Besides answering question on their exercise habits during the past week, also took into account that all participants also completed CES-D questionnaire that determine their depression levels. In the surveyed there was a lower level of depression with more frequent weekly exercise give it a negative correlation. Also with the duration question, showed a significant negative correlation with the levels of depression. The efficiency of exercise in reducing depression cannot be determined because of the small size of participates and the lack of excellent quality research on population with adequate follow up

ReferencesAnnesi, J. (2005). Changes in depressed mood associated with 10 weeks of moderate cardiovascular exercise in formerly sedentary adults. Psychological Reports, 96, 855-862.

While the research of Blumenthal et al. (2007) focused on exercise being effective in reducing self-reported depressive symptoms, Diaz and Motta (2008) and Motta, Kuligowski, and Marino (2010) looked at the positive effects of exercise on depression, anxiety and PTSD. The theory of exercise’s positive effect on mental health has heavily been focused on

An exercise intervention could be used especially because people who are depressed feel a sense of worthlessness (as in the definition of depression, DSM-V ) . A pilot study by Nadine McGale et al (2011) investigated the effectiveness of a team-based sport with an individual exercise and a control condition of young men. This study included a 10-week randomized control trial and an 8-week post intervention follow-up. A group of 104 sedentary males (exercise once or less per week) aged between 18 and 40 years were randomly assigned to the three groups namely the team-based sport, individual exercise and the control group (that received no intervention). The participants completed the Becks Depression Inventory- 2nd

Depressive persons tend to have a lower amount of physical activity because of their lack of motivation. Depression is found in a variety of people, but is especially prevalent among adolescents .But these findings would support us to conclude that physical fitness is therapeutic psychologically and physiologically in treating depression. Prescribing an appropriate regiment of exercise is shown in this study to decrease symptoms of depression in adolescent females.

Since 1990s, many scientists agree that exercise has positive impacts on people’s physical health and mental health (SIME WE, 1987). From Morgan and O’Connor’s research, people can reduce stress and state anxiety by doing physical activities; also gain emotional pleasure from the process (Morgan and O’Connor, 1988). Later in 1997, Landers states that physical activities can reduce people depression after weeks of regular and routine exercise. In addition, people can benefit from more

In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.

We often hear about the physical benefits of exercise and less about the psychological benefits promoted through physical activity. In fact, multiple researches suggest that physical activity increases academic performance and supports a positive outlook that is contributive to learning gains. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that leave you feeling focused, more relaxed, and happier. A recent study by Fotuhi, M. confirms that exercise enhances both neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells in regions of the brain associated with higher-order thinking and recall) and experience-dependent synaptogenesis (the formation of synaptic connections between neurons in response to learning and sensory input from the environment). Specifically, physical activity appears to stimulate the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps neurons and synapses grow. In fact, BDNF has been likened to fertilizer for the brain (Conyers, M., and D. Wilson p. 40).

(Ernst, Olson, Pinel, Lam, & Christie, 2006), investigated, antidepressant effects of exercise: Adult neurogenesis refers to the growth of new neurons in the adult brain, initially reports of adult neurogenesis were viewed with a great deal of skepticism, because neurogenic activity had been assumed to be limited to the developmental period; however, the legitimacy of adult neurogenesis in some brain areas has since gained wide acceptance. It is now clear that some regions of the adult mammalian brain contain populations of active progenitor cells that can give rise to new neurons and glia cells. It has been hypothesized that a decrease in the synthesis of new neurons in the adult hippocampus might be linked to major depressive disorder (MDD).

Exercise also helps to create a high content of other chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, all which regulate the body and brain in different ways (Collins). Serotonin livens a person’s mood, while also helping to regulate sleep, develop their memory and learning abilities, and create or maintain certain social behaviors (Bouchez). Increased levels of these chemicals help people with mental illnesses respond to stressful situations in a more acceptable fashion, helping them to transition back into normal society quicker.

According to Butler et al (2008), exercises that need high energy and regular aerobic practices are likely to cut down the depression symptoms at a rapid rate. Further, the authors are of

General recommendations are now widely accepted as to the general advantages of exercise in terms of physical health, such as its ability to prevent weight gain, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and osteoporosis.14 It appears that health promotion schemes have shied away from extolling exercise’s psychological benefits. After all, there is no government campaign, no public policy initiative, which pontificates exercise on account of a concern for mental wellbeing. Although many people would identify that exercise has a positive influence on mood state, it appears that, generally speaking, this is regarded as a positive correlation, rather than a causal relationship. The ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ concept is thus, for many, a heuristic utopia, rather than a scientifically proven

There are a wide array of benefits aligned with physical activity and exercise. Exercising can impact a person’s mood and psychological personality as well as improve their immune system and overall wellbeing. Throughout the essay, the psychological benefits of exercise, the benefits of exercise on the human body and the recommended level of physical activity for an average sized adult will be investigated and explained. Exercise is a vital aspect of a person’s daily regime and should be included within all lifestyles.

They found that an exercise training programme could be an alternative treatment for MDD. Although antidepressants had a more rapid response than exercise, after 16 weeks of exercise the effectiveness in reducing depression was equal to the anti-depressants. A study also found that a single bout of exercise could result in substantial improvements in mood, which shows that it’s not just duration and frequency. However, it may be that the improvement in mood is only temporary (Dimeo et al., 2001). Lawler and Hopker (2001) stated that effectiveness of exercise on depression couldn’t be determined due to lack of quality research based on clinical populations. They also wrote that the explanations of the results may have been that depressed patients who did regular exercise could have got positive feedback from other people and a sense of self worth, which may act as a diversion from negative thoughts. Physical activity was found to be linked with less coexisting depression, which remains the same after controlling for gender, age, and race. The results of the study showed that physical activity is helpful with medical problems, life stressors and quality of sleep (Harris et al., 2006).

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.