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piqer for: Global finds Health and Sanity Doing Good
Bangalore-based Rashmi Vasudeva's journalism has appeared in many Indian and international publications over the past decade. A features writer with over nine years of experience heading a health and fitness supplement in a mainstream Indian newspaper, her niche areas include health, wellness, fitness, food, nutrition and Indian classical Arts.
Her articles have appeared in various publications including Mint-Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, Deccan Herald (mainstream South Indian newspaper), Smart Life (Health magazine from the Malayala Manorama Group of publications), YourStory (India's media technology platform for entrepreneurs), Avantika (a noir arts and theatre magazine), ZDF (a German public broadcasting company) and others.
In 2006, she was awarded the British Print-Chevening scholarship to pursue a short-term course in new-age journalism at the University of Westminster, U.K. With a double Masters in Globalisation and Media Studies from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark), University of Amsterdam and Swansea University in Wales, U.K., she has also dabbled in academics, travel writing and socio-cultural studies. Mother to a frisky toddler, she hums 'wheels on the bus' while working and keeps a beady eye on the aforementioned toddler's antics.
It's Final: Exercise Is Good For Your Mind And Body—Just Don't Overdo It
Physical exercise of any sort is good for your mental wellbeing. Just don't overdo it.
According to the largest observational study of its kind published last week in 'The Lancet Psychiatry', 1.2 million people reported having better mental health after they incorporated a regular form of exercise in their lives compared to people who did not. The study additionally found that team sports especially were associated with the biggest mental benefits.
As much as this appears to be 'yet another study' on physical exercise and mental health, this one is significant for more than one reason.
Though it has been conclusively proved that exercise reduces the risk of several diseases, its effect on mental health has long been disputed, partly because smaller studies have often thrown up conflicting results. For instance, inactivity itself could be a symptom or a cause of poor mental health while being active could be a sign of agitation or recovery.
Secondly, because the study took into account a whole host of factors including age, race, gender, income, education level, physical health and previous diagnosis of depression, it provides the most conclusive stamp of affirmation to date.
Though the researchers state that they cannot confirm a direct cause and effect, the study shows a greater reduction in the number of poor mental health days in people who were previously diagnosed with depression.
Curiously, the study also points out that overdoing exercise (like hitting the gym for more than three hours a day) led people to the door of obsession, thus putting them at greater risk for mental illnesses.
Previously, it was believed that more exercise equals better mental health but that is not the case.
This correlation also gains traction because today, mental health professionals are desperately looking for urgent means to address the growing epidemic of depression worldwide. An intervention that incorporates both mental and physical health might prove greatly beneficial.
