The modern employee: exercise and the brain
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-01-2018-0002 |
| Date | 09 April 2018 |
| Published date | 09 April 2018 |
| Pages | 62-65 |
| Author | Pamela Guggina |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
The modern employee: exercise and
the brain
Pamela Guggina
Abstract
Purpose –An area of workplacewell-being, and thus performance, which is now being recognizedmore
widely is the mental health of employees. Research today demonstrates that exercise is good for the
body and dramatically affects the brain. While it is widely accepted that regular exercise can promote
weight loss,lower blood pressure and decrease the risks of diabetes, heart diseaseand certain cancers,
it is also becomingclear that exercise can improve mood,coping skills and even treat clinical depression
and anxiety. These findings further support the upward trend of companies offering a wider range of
healthbenefits to their employees.
Design/methodology/approach –One example of thecombined research, Rethorst et al., publisheda
large meta-analysis exploring the interaction between physical activity and depression. They examined
58 randomizedtrails and found that participants in the studieswho had been randomized to use exercise
as a treatment for depressionhad significantly lower depression scores than participantswho had been
randomized to the non-exercise or ‘‘control’’ group. Both clinically depressed and non-clinically
depressedindividuals reported lower depressionscores if they participated in the exercise group.
Findings –Exercise can be as effective as medication in treating depression. Regular exercise can
decrease the symptomsof clinical anxiety. Employers who incentivizephysical activity can dramatically
lower healthcarecosts. Benefits packages which promote physicalactivity can increase productivity and
decreaseabsenteeism.
Originality/value –There will always be people with an illness which requires medication, but there
appears to be a group that will benefit greatly from getting out and moving with regular exercise. The
hope is that physicianswith patients who have symptoms of depression and anxietywill encourage their
patients to getsome exercise to see if it helps. This can be somethingthat is done alone or as an adjunct
to talk therapy and/or pharmacologic treatment. Exercise is not likely to change the circumstances that
make lifechallenging, but it can help all humanscope better with these challenges.
Keywords Performance, Employee engagement, Wellness, Leadership, Benefits, Productivity
Paper type Viewpoint
An area of workplace well-being, and thus performance, which is now being
recognized more widely is the mental health of employees. One way to improve
mental health is to engage in regular physical activity. More and more research is
demonstrating that not onlyis exercise good for the body, but it also has dramatic effectson
the brain. While it is widely accepted that regular exercise can promote weight loss, lower
blood pressure and decrease the risks of diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, it is
also becoming clear that exercise can improve mood, improve coping skills and even treat
clinical depression and anxiety. These findings further support the upward trend of
companies offering a wider range of health benefitsto their employees.
“Mental health directly impacts workplace productivity”. For example, according to the
World Health Organization, depression is a leading cause of disability, affecting an
estimated 350 million people worldwide. The economic burden of depression, including
workplace costs, direct costs and suicide-related costs, was estimated to be US$210.5bn
in 2010 (Greenberg et al.,2017). This does not account for the obvious indirect impact of
Pamela Guggina is based
at Advance Medical, Inc.,
Westwood, Massachusetts,
USA.
PAGE 62 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jVOL. 17 NO. 2 2018, pp. 62-65, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-01-2018-0002
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