The Increasing Relevance of Physical Activity and Exercise to Individual Mental Health

There are substantial evidences from longitudinal studies that physical activity and exercise offer protection from depression in adolescents, adults and older adults. This evidence has been gathered from different countries and with different populations. Exercise provides some health and psychological benefits as an adjunct to treatment in complex mental health problems such as alcohol and drug rehabilitation, mild and moderate depression, provision of valuable social support etc. The evidence to support the benefits of exercise as an intervention in the treatment of mental illness is growing. This paper therefore critically looks into the increasing relevance of physical activity and exercise to individual mental health.