Mental Health Benefits of Physical

ActivityTaylor Hachey & Alie Ross

November 13, 2013

Outline3 QuestionsWhat is depression?Defining ‘exercise’ and ‘physical activity’Activity!Benefits of physical activityWhy do nurses promote physical activity?

To start…1. What do you do to improve your physical

health?

…2. What do you do to improve your

emotional/mental/social health?

…3. … Are they the same?

Symptoms of Depressiondepressed mood for most of the daydecreased interest in daily activitiessignificant weight loss OR increase or decrease in appetite inability to sleep OR sleeping too much low energy feeling worthless or guiltybeing overly excitable or feeling “in a fog”decreased ability to concentrate thoughts of death*must be present every day for 2 weeks

How do we define depression?

categoriesmildmoderatesevere

affects 121 million people globallygreatest reduction in overall health of all chronic

diseases

What is ‘exercise’ anyway?

recommended amount: 60-90 minutes per day

o moderate vs. vigorouso weight-bearing activities

Examples of Physical Activities

Interactive Activity

Benefits of Physical Activityimproved moodbetter sleep (quality and amount)improved body image improved self-esteemmaintain thinking, learning, and judgment skillssocial support network

Why is promoting physical activity important?

promotion of mental healthbroad impactprevents illnessfinancial savings

Referenceshttp://www.research.utoronto.ca/can-exercise-be

at-depression/http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/he

alth/http://www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP_PAG

uidelines_youth_en.pdf