Depression and Exercise - Mental Health Day 2023
STEP INTO YOUR SPRING THING
It might seem like a bold move to advise someone finding it hard to even get out of bed to go and find some ‘get-up-and-go’…but the highest levels of evidence supporting exercise as a treatment for depression (and many other mental health challenges and brain-based disorders) is so astounding that it must be recommended. Tough as it might seem, it would be a mistake not to let someone struggling know what a huge difference exercise could make. Indeed, for some, it may be the one recommendation that someone chooses to act on that could make all the difference in their positive recovery and maintaining overall a good mood in the longest term.
We appreciate that getting going with any new routine may be hard for some, and lifestyle changes that involve movement perhaps a little harder still. In fact, there is new research that suggests that depression should also be considered a movement disorder.
So, why is it so hard to get moving, and what can help get us going?
Overcoming the humps at the start of something involves specific areas of the brain. On top of these there are some extra ones we need to recruit and activate when it comes to moving. Motivation and initiation (getting started) involves a big brain network that includes functional areas for: what we want; what we like; the rewards we might get; our emotions; our behaviour; our memory; and parts of our complex thinking and executive functions too.
Interestingly, these connected areas create more pathways and stronger, faster connections with more experiences.
We can find out more about how these areas of our brain are working with detailed 2D and 3D maps you can see with the analysis of QEEG brain scans. QEEG brain scans can detect unusual patterns of brainwave activity in specific areas of the brain. Different areas and networks of the brain have different functions (such as motivation), and if a brain is not producing the right type of brainwave activity, it cannot work at its best on the specific jobs it was designed to do. These scans can help to pin-point problems in the brain and explain in greater detail why someone has difficulty with getting started on something new or restarting something they once loved.
Photo by Tabitha Turner on Unsplash
Today we can not only zoom into see this brain activity, but we can zero in to retrain these specific brain areas too.
QEEG directed neurofeedback training is a proven, targeted and effective way to retrain specific brain waves in specific areas of your brain when it comes to depression and motivation, and other related brain-based challenges.
QEEG directed tDCS is a non-invasive brain-based treatment that delivers a very weak current to the brain. tDCS increases the excitability, plasticity and potential for positive change in the region of the brain targeted. tDCS has been researched extensively by leading global researchers including Australia’s Black Dog Institute.
Neurofeedback and tDCS can beneficially change and optimise the way parts of your brain involved in your mood, motivation and activity level operate.
If we home in and just look at exercise we know this is a great place to start when it comes to kickstarting our positive lifestyle changes, getting going again, and boosting our mood.
What are some tips for you stepping into your spring thing and keeping the momentum going for a powerful shift in your mental health?
Start small, simple and enjoyable.
Recent research followed up with a large group over 11 years supports that starting with as little as an hour each week may provide a 12% reduced risk of future depression. That’s with just an hour a week – could you start with a fun 1 hr class with a friend or walk instead of drive for less than 9 minutes a day?
Committing to just an hour a week for long enough can shift the way you feel, and also how easy it is for you to do just that hour of activity a week. You might feel so good after a little while that the ‘liking the activity and wanting more of it’ parts of your brain are back online, so that then introducing more exercise from here is easier.
Embrace the benefits of combined training.
In just this last year The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry brought together an International Federation for Psychiatry and an Australasian taskforce to outline clear evidence-based clinical guidelines specific to the vitally important lifestyle factors that can improve depression. Physical activity and exercise were at the top of the list.
These guidelines support a combination of: aerobic exercise;strength based exercise; as well as Yoga, tai chi, Pilates or qi gong practices that include - breathwork, mindfulness and spiritual components. Additionally, when we are doing activities for leisure, or to actually transport ourselves somewhere, and when we are purposefully doing what we want with meaning to ourselves – these may have the greatest benefits to mental health.
Photo by Amauri Mejía on Unsplash
Work up to an ‘I can do this’ timetable, most of the time.
The clinical guidelines above suggest that we work toward a target of:
150-300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week.
- OR -
75 – 150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week.
The combination of things you do to meet this target will be as unique as you are.
The Black Dog Institute outlines an easy-to-understand way to think about building an exercise timetable that might work for you here:
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Finally, this original investigation outlines that the benefits of exercise are multifaceted and that’s why it can be so powerful. That improvements are seen not just in standard measures of physical fitness, but in: neurobiological mechanisms – stimulating the brains production of BDNF, reducing inflammation, stimulating frontal brain regions and the hippocampus; and psychosocial factors – the potential boost in our positive sense of self and our social connections.
A true triple threat.
Should this have you thinking more about your mood, your physical activity and motivation to get going, The Perth Brain Centre is available to help.
You can watch, read, call or email, to find out more today.
About the author - Ms. Emily Goss (Occupational Therapist, Senior Clinician, The Perth Brain Centre).