Behavior Change and Health News


Coping With Depression Through Lifestyle Changes

October 5, 2006, is National Depression Screening Day in the United States. Over the past 15 years, thousands of people have visited local screening centers for in-person and online screenings for four of the most common mental disorders: depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. With heightened awareness has come a realization of the importance of physical health in coping with and treating mental health disorders. Programs with a focus on behavior change, such as Active Living Every Day (ALED) and Healthy Eating Every Day (HEED), fill a need for evidence-based programs proven to increase levels of physical activity and improve eating habits.

Findings uncover value in lifestyle changes

Countless research studies confirm that physical activity provides mental health benefits, including higher self-esteem, improved mood, and improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety (Berry, 2006). In addition, progress made through physical activity is comparable to treatment with antidepressant medication in improving depressive symptoms.

With an emphasis on learning lifestyle-management skills to bring about long-term behavior change, Active Living Every Day and Healthy Eating Every Day meet several requirements that research has found to be vital in helping people cope with mental health disorders:

  • Programs are individualized. Participants in Active Living Partners programs learn about various strategies that help to improve health, then they select those that are most helpful to them. Participants are encouraged to find physical activities that they enjoy, such as walking, gardening, or dancing, and not to deny themselves of foods they like. Instead, Active Living Partners encourage healthier choices most of the time. Kevin Fontaine, PhD, in The Physician and Sportsmedicine, states, “The particular type of PA (physical activity) performed is less important than assisting patients in finding an activity that they can perform consistently. It should be emphasized that any PA is better than no PA. The benefits that PA conveys on mental health and perceived energy may be more immediate and dramatic to patients than are its effects on physical health.”
  • Emphasis on moderate changes. Active Living Every Day advocates at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days of the week, in agreement with the Surgeon General’s report and researchers who find “significant health benefits with 150 minutes of moderate exercise weekly” (Faulkner and Cohn, 2006). Healthy Eating Every Day encourages balance, variety, and moderation in five goal areas, including increasing intake of fruits and vegetables and decreasing intake of dietary fat. In their study of successful strategies for weight control in mental health patients, Faulkner and Cohn found a key component to be dietary fat reduced to 30% of energy intake. By identifying realistic ways to decrease saturated fat and balance calories, Healthy Eating Every Day offers practical suggestions for improving eating habits.
  • Focus on behavior concepts. The transtheoretical model, social-cognitive theory, and other well-founded theories form the basis of Active Living Every Day and Healthy Eating Every Day. The National Institute of Mental Health states, “…preventive interventions based on cognitive-behavior theories…merit attention as approaches for avoiding adverse outcomes associated with both disorders (depression and heart disease).” Faulkner and Cohn found behavioral therapies to be associated with improved long-term outcomes, and they stressed the importance of problem solving, goal setting, social support, and self-monitoring—all core lessons within ALED and HEED.

To learn more

Details about the National Depression Screening Day and mental health screening can be found at www.mentalhealthscreening.org or by calling 781-239-0071.

Contact Active Living Partners at www.ActiveLiving.info, 800-747-4457 ext 2286, or kristinem@hkusa.com. Learn how to offer ALED and HEED in your community or worksite, locate a program provider, and discover the benefits of each program.

Sources

Berry, Tanya. Mental Health and Physical Activity Workshop Summary. Alberta Centre for Active Living. 2006.

Faulkner, Guy, and Tony Cohn. Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Strategies for Weight Gain and Metabolic Disturbance in Patients Treated With Antipsychotic Medications. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry Vol 51, No 8, July 2006.

Fontaine, Kevin. Physical Activity Improves Mental Health. The Physician and Sportsmedicine 28, No 10, October 2000.

National Institute of Mental Health. Depression Can Break Your Heart. NIH Publication No. 01-4592. www.nihm.nih.gov/publicat/heartbreak.cfm. 2001; updated February 17, 2006.



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