Mental Health Awareness Week - 8th-14th May

Posted: Tue, 2 May 2017 14:00

Mental Health Awareness Week - 8th-14th May

During Mental Health Awareness Week (8th-14th May 2017) we, along with our locality partners, are promoting the importance of physical activity and mental health.

This year, the Mental Health Foundation is looking at mental health from a new angle. Rather than asking why so many people are living with mental health problems, they are seeking to uncover why too few of us are thriving with good mental health. Good mental health is more than the absence of a mental health problem.

What steps can we take to look after our mental health, building resilience to cope with the demands of life? Each of us has different backgrounds, resources, experiences and opportunities which affect our risk of mental ill-health and ability to thrive.

What impact does physical activity have on wellbeing?

Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.

Mood: when asked to rate their mood immediately after periods of physical activity (going for a walk, doing housework) and periods of inactivity (reading a book, watching television), participants felt more content, more awake and calmer after being physically active.When you exercise, your brain chemistry changes through the release of endorphins (or 'feel good' hormones), which can calm anxiety and lift your mood.

Stress: when events occur that make us feel threatened or upset, our body's defences cut in and create a stress response, which may make us feel a variety of uncomfortable physical symptoms. These symptoms are triggered by a rush of stress hormones – the fight or flight response. Adrenaline and noradrenaline raise our blood pressure, increase our heart rate and increase the rate at which we perspire. This causes us to feel stress. Physical activity is a good output for relieving these symptoms and consequently relieving stress.

Self-esteem: how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth is a key indicator of our mental wellbeing and our ability to cope with life stressors. Physical activity has been shown to have a positive influence on our self-esteem and self-worth. When you start to see your fitness levels increase and your body improve, it can give your self-esteem a big boost. The sense of achievement you get from learning new skills and achieving your goals can help you feel better about yourself and lift your mood.

Depression and anxiety: physical activity is increasingly used as an alternative treatment for depression. It can also reduce levels of anxiety in people with mild symptoms and may also be helpful for treating clinical anxiety.One study has found that by increasing your activity levels from doing nothing to exercising at least three times a week, you can reduce your risk of depression by almost 20%.

Social and Emotional Benefits: being around other people is good for our mental health and social networks, plus you can maximise the benefits of exercising by doing it with other people. Lots of us enjoy being active because it's fun. Researchers have shown that there's a link between the things we enjoy doing and improvements in our wellbeing overall.

Don't forget the physical benefits too. Being physically active can reduce your risk of some diseases, improve the health of your organs and bones, help you to maintain a healthy weight and give you more energy.

Local Sessions during Mental Health Awareness Week

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we have pulled together a list of local activities and sessions taking place in Leicester-Shire & Rutland:

  • Gardening Sessions
  • Tai Chi
  • Health Walks
  • Beginner Running Sessions and Park Fitness/Parkrun
  • Sport sessions including Walking Football, Basketball, Touch Rugby and Athletics
  • Exercise classes including Pre-Natal and Circuits
  • Dementia Friends Session

Source: Mental Health Foundation and MIND

'Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport are committed to creating a culture of welling within the workplace, to support the core team and partners to deliver a programme of activity which promotes good mental health and wellbeing, raise awareness of and helping to address mental health challenges'.

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