Linking Movement and Mental Health [Podcast Series]
[:56] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Brendon Stubbs
Dr. Stubbs is Senior Clinical Lecturer at King’s College London.
He is a physiotherapist and a scientist and researcher in mental health, physical activity and well-being.
[1:23] Inspiration for interest in physical activity and mental health
“And it was just being trained in physical therapy, or being able to really focus on the body and movement, exercise and how we move. And then looking at people who are coming to seek treatment for their mental health and seeing very early on as a junior physiotherapist—or physical therapist—how inactive people were, how people were not moving around very much at all…”
[3:34] Connecting a healthy mind and a healthy body
“The inaugural medical director of the World Health Organization outright said in their first speech that there is no health without mental health, clearly making the stance that having true health is really about having a healthy mind and a healthy body. And the two are completely interconnected.”
[8:03] Integrating mental and physical health in practice
“And I think my experience has shown me that, because people see me coming in from sort of physical health help, and I'm not coming in to look at their psychiatric medication or give any diagnosis, it really opens a very natural, trusting, open dialogue, which is a great privilege for people to be able to talk about their mental health symptoms, which you would ordinarily never have the privilege and the honor to listen, to hear, to help, and for people to confide in me in the context of their care as well.”
[12:05] Destigmatizing mental health conditions
“And it's really important, because I don't need to tell you or any of your listeners that we all have mental health, and there's times where our mental health is out of sync, and many of us will have mental health symptoms or conditions at one point in our lives. And we all almost certainly know somebody right now who is struggling with a mental health diagnosis. So it's only right that we're openly talking about mental health, and how we can help people.”
[15:52] Addressing the physical inactivity and mental health crises
“Now the links between mental health in the context of the crisis were not always implicitly made. But more and more people are talking about the impact of not being able to connect with our friends being indoors. But physical activity proves a real, profound opportunity to help us move, feel better, connect outdoors safely with other people, and feel a sense of joy and movement. And I think it's a real win-win situation for our physical and our mental health and just our overall connection with each other and also the outside world and the planet.”
[18:35] Physical activity as a coping strategy
“People were asked in the context of the pandemic, out of a whole plethora of options, what is the number one coping strategy which you're using to help get by and help you cope during this pandemic. Number one spot was people put physical activity and exercise.”
[22:02] Building the evidence base linking mental health and physical activity
“So I think, more broadly in the context of mental health and physical activity, I think there's been some really exciting developments over the last 5,10,15 years where we’ve moved from physical activity, structured exercises as being something which would be like a nice to have...”
[25:00] Translating research for a lay audience
“There's a lot of noise out there, there's a lot of views, there's a lot of views, there's a lot of opinions. And often the people who are most listened to in the context of lifestyle, movement, nutrition, are not the ones who are undertaking, leading, or doing the science. So we've got, we've got a mismatch between the people who are being listened to and heard and the people who are doing the science and the rigor and know the evidence and trying to connect those two dots.”
[26:44] Call to action
“And really know that helping people move is going to help people's physical health. And if we help them with physical health, we're going to help people with mental health. In its own right, there's really robust evidence that helping people move more can help prevent and manage mental health symptoms, make us feel happier and help with people with mental health diagnosis.”
