Getting Patients to Exercise Could Reduce Population Burden of Mental Illness

Could more rigorous efforts on the part of physicians and health systems to encourage people to exercise lower the population-wide burden of mental illness?In aneditorial inJAMA Psychiatry, the author of a study published last year showing that even relatively modest regular exercise has significant beneficial effects on an individual ’s mental health said that including exercise in the treatment of mental illness could improve rates of recovery and reduce illness burden.“[C]linical psychiatry has an ever-increasing need for strategies to reduce the population burden of mental illness,” wrote Adam Chekroud, Ph.D., of Yale University and Alisa Trugerman, Ph.D., of Altru Consulting. “Exercise may be one such strategy, but we are a long way from realizing this po tential.”Chekroud was one of the authors of astudy inLancet Psychiatry last year showing how the specific type, duration, and frequency of physical exercise affects mental health. The study, which received widespreadpublicity, suggested that an exercise regimen specifically tailored to a person ’s needs, capabilities, and lifestyle could have a measurable impact on the individual’s mental health.In theJAMA Psychiatry editorial, Chekroud and Trugerman wrote that when applied to the entire population, exercise could have a significant effect on reducing the population burden of mental illness. They noted that though the benefits are compelling, the uptake of exercise remains well below federal guidelines: Ac...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Adam Chekroud barriers to exercise exercise and public mental health JAMA Psychiatry Ph.D. population mental health Source Type: research