Here at Mental Elf HQ, several new pieces of research relating to yoga have come our way. This blog is the first in a series examining the mental health effects of engaging in yoga. Yoga is a form of exercise (largely comprising physical postures and breathing) which originated in India over 5,000 years ago. Many [read the full story…]
Depression is one of the most common mental health problems, with around 1 in 5 people in the UK suffering from depression during their lifetime (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2012) including an estimated 4% of children (NHS Choices, 2012). Treatments for depression are different in children and young people, for example some antidepressant medications used [read the full story…]
Chronic diseases and depression often go hand in hand. There is a growing evidence-base that shows how exercise can help reduce depressive symptoms in people with chronic illness and it’s encouraging to see a steady stream of primary research being published in this area. A new ancillary study published in JAMA examines the effect that [read the full story…]
Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]
Regular readers of the Mental Elf will recall the blogs (Here is the evidence for exercising if you are depressed and New Cochrane review shows that exercise helps with depression) I wrote back in June and July about the evidence for exercising if you have depression. A new systematic review was published in the British [read the full story…]
This is perfect timing from the chaps at the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group. After all the hubbub about exercise and depression a few weeks ago, it’s great to read an updated version of their systematic review that looks at the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of depression. The review looked for randomised [read the full story…]
Ooh, what a palaver over the depression and exercise story! Such a lot of words have been written about the study published in the BMJ last week, including by me. The study itself was well conducted but frankly disappointing (for us readers and the researchers themselves), finding as it did that a specific treatment to [read the full story…]
Back from my 5-mile run around the woodland yesterday morning I sat down to catch up on the latest elf stories. Many of the national newspapers reported on a new randomised controlled trial published in the BMJ, which studied ‘facilitated physical activity’ for people with depression. The headlines seemed to be in agreement: Exercise ‘no [read the full story…]
Exercise is a good thing right? It seems obvious that people who are affected by mental health problems would benefit from getting themselves outside and becoming more active, but are these ‘treatments’ value for money when they are delivered in a structured way? The current NICE depression guideline recommends ‘structured’ physical activity programmes for depression [read the full story…]
There is a growing pool of research that looks into the impact that exercise can have on depression, but this systematic review and meta-analysis claims to be the first summary of trials into the effects of exercise training on depressive symptoms among patients with a chronic illness. The research team from the University of Alabama [read the full story…]
