Get Moving: The First Option to Treat Depression & Anxiety

While it’s com­mon knowl­edge that exer­cise is good for us, the results of a recent study* in the British Jour­nal of Sports Med­i­cine shows what a pow­er­ful impact it has on our men­tal health. In fact, the study con­cludes, exer­cise should seri­ous­ly be con­sid­ered as the first treat­ment option for depres­sion, anx­i­ety and psy­cho­log­i­cal dis­tress in adults.

It’s a great reminder of the impor­tance of main­tain­ing your Resilience Rit­u­als (Chap­ter 3, Your Oxy­gen Mask First, Dou­ble Your Resilience). This is about tak­ing time to do things that build and main­tain your resilience – body, mind and spirit.

That includes reg­u­lar exer­cise that you enjoy and do con­sis­tent­ly. Walk your dog, shoot hoops with your kids, play a pick-up game of bas­ket­ball or golf with friends.

This umbrel­la sci­en­tif­ic review found, in some cas­es, that phys­i­cal activ­i­ty was 1.5 times more effec­tive than coun­selling or med­ica­tion in tack­ling depres­sion. And it doesn’t take long to make a mea­sur­able, pos­i­tive change to men­tal health: only 12 weeks or less had the most sig­nif­i­cant impact.

Of course, one size doesn’t fit all, and men­tal health issues can be com­plex so it’s always wise to talk to your doc­tor or a ther­a­pist if you are struggling.

And don’t wait to start until you are strug­gling, when it’s hard­er to start some­thing new. If you con­tin­ue to make exer­cise and resilience rit­u­als a part of your life, you’ll be stronger and more able to take on what­ev­er life throws at you.

The Chal­lenge

• Are you doing your resilience rit­u­als and get­ting enough activity?
• If so, what can you do to take it up a notch?

Addi­tion­al Blogs

• Dou­ble Your Per­son­al Resilience
• Are You Get­ting Sev­en Kinds of Rest?
• What Makes You Happy?
• Tak­ing a Men­tal Health Break
• Man­ag­ing Your Men­tal Health in Tur­bu­lent Times

* Effec­tive­ness of Phys­i­cal Activ­i­ty Inter­ven­tions for Improv­ing Depres­sion, Anx­i­ety and Dis­tress: an Overview of Sys­tem­at­ic Reviews. (Dr. Ben Singh, Olds, Cur­tis, Dumuid, Vir­gara, Wat­son, Sze­to, O’Connor, Fer­gu­son, Egli­tis, Miatke, Simp­son, Maher) Uni­ver­si­ty of South Aus­tralia, Ade­laide, South Aus­tralia, Australia.

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.