The importance of physical activity in mental-health research

Considering the wealth of the research results mentioned above, it is worthwhile to mention that the growth rate of this interdisciplinary field is so great that an international, peer-reviewed journal has recently been created for this subject alone. In their inaugural editorial, the co-editors of the Journal of Mental Health and Physical Activityem> (MENPA), Adrian H. Taylor and Guy Faulkner, state that beyond the research evidence pointing at the effectiveness of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of mental illness, there are four additional reasons why physical activity should be considered a potential mental-health promotion strategy:

1. Physical activity is more cost-effective than either psychopharmacological or psychotherapeutic interventions. If appropriate, "physical activity may be a cost-effective alternative for those who prefer not to use medication or who cannot access therapy."
2. "In contrast to pharmacological interventions, physical activity is associated with minimal adverse side-effects."
3. "Physical activity can be indefinitely sustained by the individual, unlike pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments, which often have a specified endpoint."
4. "Physical activity stands apart from more traditional treatments and therapies for mental health problems because it has the potential to simultaneously improve health and well-being and tackle mental illness.”

This last point is especially important when one considers issues like the cardiovascular and diabetes comorbidity problems experienced by people with mental illness. For example, persons with schizophrenia tend to die not from schizophrenia, per se, but rather from comorbid cardiovascular problems — which may be directly improved through regular physical activity (Faulkner, 2006).
Physical activity plays role in the recovery of mental health. Richardson and co-authors (2005) add two further reasons why physical activity program should be included in psychiatric services:

• The opportunity for individuals with mental illness to have frequent contact with their mental health service providers. As Richardson and colleagues wrote, "...changing health behaviours can be difficult, and frequent reinforcement can play a critical role in the successful long-term adoption of regular physical activity (p. 328)."
• Specific mental illness barriers may be best addressed by people trained in the mental health field.