MENTAL HEALTH Flashcards
What is mental health?
- well-being in which an individual realizes potential, copes with normal stresses, works productively & is able to contribute to community
What is mental illness?
- health condition characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behaviour, associated with distress and/or impaired functioning
How much does mental illness support (medication, etc) cost annually for the Canadian economy?
- 50 billion
How many people in Canada experience mental illness at some point in their life?
- 1/5
How many people internationally experience mental health issues?
- 1/5
What is physical activity?
- any movement that results in energy expenditure above resting levels
What is exercise?
- physical activity that is structured, often unsupervised, and maintains, or improves fitness or health
What is physical activity a great rationale for treating and preventing mental illness, and promoting mental health?
- complementary means of treating & preventing are needed
- associated with no negative side-effects
- effectively improves aspects of physical health
What are the four functions of physical activity for improving mental health?
- the preventive function
- the treatment function
- quality of life function for chronic physical & mental health problems
- the “feel good” function
What is the metric measurement of “effect size?”
SM, MED, LG
- small: (.20)
- medium: (.50)
- large: (.80)
What is exercise as a preventative function?
- strong evidence in area of depression
- suggests that PA prevents depression onset
- evidence any level of PA can prevent future depression
- reduction in PA = increased distress
What are higher levels of physical activity associated with?
- greater self-esteem & lower levels of distress
What is exercise as a treatment function for depression?
- exercise has similar effect size as other recognized therapies, including medication
- consistent evidence that exercise may be another evidence-based treatment to consider
- no strong link between treatment for anxiety with physical activity
What is depression?
- characterized by a depressed mood, loss of interest/motivation, sleep disruption, energy loss, impaired concentration, slowed thoughts & motor activity, & suicidal thoughts
What are anxiety disorders?
- range of disorders such as panic disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
How does exercise improve quality of life?
- enhance ability to cope & manage disorders and illness
What is positive activated effect?
- subjective mental state of positive energy & engagement
What is self esteem?
- personal judgment of worthiness
What is high self-esteem associated with?
- high self-esteem associated with important life adjustment qualities
What are the six components of the relationship between exercise and mental health?
- endorphins
- neurotrophin
- monoamine
- distraction
- self-efficacy
- process approach
What is the endorphin hypothesis?
- endorphins ease pain, and can produce a feeling of euphoria
What are endorphins?
- mimics chemical structure of morphine.
- regulates emotion and pain perception
What is the neurotrophic hypothesis?
- brain derived neurotrophic factor
- play role in development & brain plasticity
- low levels often found in mental disorders
What is the monoamine hypothesis?
- improved affect associated with exercise is explained by changes in one or more of the brain monoamines
What are monoamines?
- neurotransmitters that include, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin
What is the distraction hypothesis?
- psychological mechanism
- effective for reducing negative mood than the relaxation provided by other distracting, but enjoyable, activities
What is self efficacy?
- belief that one can successfully execute a behaviour
Are mental health problems common in the general population?
- yes, fucking DUH
Is exercise is more effective for treating mental problems in clinical populations than it is for improving/preventing them in non-clinical populations or in asymptomatic participants?
- no, are you fucking stupid?
Is it true that in order for exercise to improve mental health, the participant must experience fitness gains by engaging in vigorous physical activity?
- no, 🦆 your gains
