Exercise and Mental Health Promotion ‐ The Natural Partnership
| Date | 01 January 2000 |
| Published date | 01 January 2000 |
| Pages | 16-18 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200000004 |
| Author | Steve Edwards |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
In terms of mental health, Fox reports clear
evidence that exercise improves general health,
quality of life, subjective well-being, self-esteem and self-percep-
tion. The psychosocial mechanisms for
the improvement of mental health, as reported in Table 1 of his arti-
cle, seem especially valuable future research avenues in a society
increasingly influenced by television and computers. A few years
ago an American athlete remarked that Kenyan domination of dis-
tance running was scarcely surprising; many Kenyan youth run long
distances to and from school each day without the distraction of 50-
channel cable television. This is also interesting in view of recent
evidence, quoted by Fox, that physical self-worth, independent of
global self-worth, has mental well-being properties in its own right,
is worthy of use
as an outcome indication of mental health and may prove a key
mechanism by which exercise can improve mental well being.
Fox’spaper is also simply valuable in its
recognition of intuitive reasons why exercise improves mental
health. People who exercise
regularly report improvements in both personal sense of well-being
and sense of community. Fox notes thatit is in particular this sense
of community which impacts upon the quality of life of older people.
As a whole, the scientifically cautious tone of the paper is justifi-
able for various reasons (in addition
to the need for high academic standards):
■
There is need to provide indubitable evidence to sell the exer-
cise product to conservative, critical audiences dominated by
capitalism, computers and cold climates where fast food sells
well.
■
An extremely effective campaign is needed to
persuade drug companies to focus on mental health promotion
(through research into improved dietary and vitamin supple-
ments, for example)
as well as mental illness prevention through
traditional psychopharmaceutical preparations.
■
Major exercise machine and shoe companies
need hard evidence to support their products.
■
The existing research is limited in many ways, including fund-
ing, design, quantity,quality, researcher expertise,methodology
(few randomised, controlled studies) and general state of devel-
opment. It is also almost exclusively orientated to the Western
Exercise and Mental Health
Promotion – The Natural
Partnership
Steve Edwards
University of Zululand,
South Africa
COMMENTARY
16 International Journal of Mental Health Promotion VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 • FEBRUARY 2000 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited.
ncommentaries of this kind, bias needs to
be acknowledged from the beginning. I am a South African psycholo-
gist and a committed athlete for whom the benefits of exercise are
self-evident. At the Birmingham conference, I listened to Ken Fox’s
paper with intense appreciation for its scientific rigour.Yet, in the
ensuing discussion and following workshop,
Iwas disturbed to learn of the over-emphasis on the individual,
cognitive self as distinct from the physical and communal self and
the general context, in the approach to mental health and well-being
in general and in British psychologyand national health centres in
particular.
Life means movement
It may be because it is such an obvious, unconscious or forgotten
fact (joyfully active childhood play being in the past for most of us)
that, as a living, human, community in a technocratic, post-modern
world, we truly need to rediscover the truth of this statement
through experience, as well as being cognitively
convinced of its value by such an excellent, evidence-based
research paper as that provided by Ken Fox. The paper reminds us
thatour bodies were designed for movement. They will degenerate
with misuse and improve when reactivated. In addition, the paper
provides a summary and a critical evaluation of the evidence for the
treatment and preventive effect of exercise on mental health and its
improvement effect on quality of life, well-being and mental health.
Exercise is specifically defined as a subset of physical activities that
are planned and purposeful attempts to improve health and aspects
of well-being.
The evidence
Much of the paper is concerned with a review of reviews, with par-
ticular focus on work commissioned by Somerset Health Authority.
Fox reports overwhelming and convincing evidence thatboth aero-
bic and resistance exercise are as effective as psychotherapy in the
treatment of depression. Furthermore, maintenance of exercise is
found to reduce the risk of subsequent depression and anxiety and
to increase resilience to stress. Although more research is
needed to satisfy the rigour of Fox’sanalysis, similar patterns are
observed with other disorders.
I
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