Just What We Need in a Pandemic: The Walking Cure

As life continues to be disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, lots of people are feeling out of sorts and would love to find some straightforward, free, and accessible way of remedying that. Even people who have been thriving wouldn’t mind an easy way of maintaining their good spirits.  Professor Shane O’Mara, a brain researcher at Trinity College Dublin, may have an answer. He thinks that “physicians the world over [should] write prescriptions for walking as a core treatment for improving our individual and aggregate health and well-being.”  Walking, Professor O’Mara believes, “enhances every aspect of our social, psychological and neural functioning.” I’m skeptical of such hyperbole, even as a lifelong lover of walking. Reading the case he makes in his new book, “In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration,” did not persuade me to sign on to such a sweeping celebration of my favorite form of exercise. But he did provide some compelling arguments, backed up by solid research. Here are a few of them. Feeling Better, Mentally and Physically Have you heard that you should walk 150 minutes per week? Credit an Irish study of more than 8,000 adults who were 50 or older. The participants who walked at least that much described their physical health and their quality of life as better. They were less likely to feel lonely or to experience symptoms of clinical depression, and more likely to be socially active, both formally and informally, than the parti...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Depression Exercise & Fitness General Mental Health and Wellness Research coronavirus COVID-19 Source Type: blogs