A variety of daily movements has been linked to better well-being, according to a small new study of psychiatric patients, a finding that may help explain why pandemic lockdowns have been difficult for so many of us.
Staying active during a global pandemic has been quite difficult, especially when many people are afraid of even going outside. Some have taken up exercise at home, but in a normal world, spontaneous outings are important health factors that we often underestimate.
When most of us think of mental stimulating activities, we envision deliberate and strenuous exercise such as jogging, cycling, or swimming, but it seems that just visiting different locations is associated with a higher sense of well-being in people. with depression or anxiety.
A recently published study by researchers at the University Psychiatric Clinics in Basel, Switzerland, found that the more different locations people visit, the better they feel about their emotional and psychological well-being – even if their mental health symptoms are still there.
The study was conducted before the pandemic struck and looked at 106 patients with mental health problems, including affective disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Some were admitted to hospitals and others were outpatient, living at home but seeking regular care in medical facilities.
These patients carried an extra telephone with them for a week to monitor their movements with GPS. They also completed several studies on their subjective well-being, their psychological flexibility and their psychological health symptoms.
By comparing GPS maps with the results of these studies, the authors found that greater movement in space and time seemed to coincide with greater sense of well-being, even though the symptoms of mental health problems remained largely the same.
Outpatients spent nearly a third of their day at home, but understandably showed significantly more exercise than inpatients, who spent most of their time in hospital.
As expected, those patients with phobias or fears about leaving safe spaces were strongly associated with much lower mobility and a much smaller area of activity. Yet no other symptoms of mental health problems appeared to have the same effect on a patient’s daily movements.
In contrast, higher levels of emotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, psychological flexibility were consistently associated with more exercise and greater variation in movement.
“Our results suggest that activity alone is not enough to reduce the symptoms of mental disorders, but can at least improve subjective well-being,” explains clinical and health psychologist Andrew Gloster at the University of Basel.
The findings add to a limited body of research on the effects of everyday activities in people with mental health problems. In fact, this is one of the first studies to use GPS tracking as a measure of spontaneous movements.
Clearly, in the real world, such data could be viewed as an invasion of patient privacy, but in a study setting, researchers can examine the effects of simple activities that are often overlooked.
Physical activity has been shown to significantly improve well-being and mental health, but most research on this topic so far has focused on deliberate exercise. Today, it is unclear how spontaneous movements in daily life affect patients seeking mental health treatment.
Last year, a small study of 67 participants found that everyday activities, such as walking to the tram stop or climbing stairs, made people feel more alert and energized.
Further magnetic resonance imaging of the participants’ brains showed that those who felt more energized after exercise had a greater volume of gray matter in the subgenual cingulate cortex – an area of the brain associated with emotional regulation.
Figuring out how to apply this knowledge to prevent and treat mental health problems is a completely different matter, but simple movements can be a harmless place to start.
“We are currently experiencing severe limitations in public life and social contact, which can have a negative effect on our well-being,” said neuroscientist Heike Tost in November 2020.
“Climbing stairs more often can help you feel better.”
Going outside alone can also play a contributing role. Physical activity in nature as a child has been linked to better mental health outcomes as an adult, and doctors in some parts of the world have begun to “prescribe” time in nature as a boost to mental and physical health.
The new GPS study is small and limited, but the findings suggest that exercise may be a predictor of how well patients with mental health problems generally cope.
“The results indicate that movement patterns (eg, distance, number of destinations, variability of destinations, etc.) may serve as a marker of functioning and well-being,” conclude the authors of the new study.
Much more research needs to be done to confirm and expand these findings, but the authors suggest that using GPS could be a non-intrusive way to monitor simple, everyday activities and their effect on mental health and well-being. better investigate.
The study is published in BMC Psychiatry