A variety of everyday movements is linked to better well-being, according to a small new study with psychiatric patients, a finding that may help explain why pandemic blocks have been difficult for so many of us.
Staying active during a global pandemic has been quite difficult, especially when many people are afraid to leave the house. Some have started exercising at home and yet, in a normal world, spontaneous outings are important health factors that we tend to underestimate.
When most of us think about mind-enhancing activities, we imagine strenuous and deliberate exercises, like running, cycling or swimming, but it seems that just visiting a variety of different locations is associated with a greater sense of well-being in people. with depression or anxiety.
A study recently published by researchers at University Psychiatric Clinics in Basel, Switzerland, found that the more varied places people visit, the better they feel about their emotional and psychological well-being – even if their mental health symptoms still exist.
The study was conducted before the pandemic hit and looked at 106 patients with mental health problems, including affective disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Some were inpatients in hospitals and others were outpatients, living at home, but seeking regular care in medical institutions.
For a week, these patients carried an extra phone with them to track their movements with GPS. They also completed several surveys on their subjective well-being, psychological flexibility and mental health symptoms.
Comparing the GPS maps with the results of these surveys, the authors found that greater movement in space and time seemed to coincide with a greater sense of well-being, although the symptoms of mental health problems remained basically the same.
Outpatients spent almost a third of the day at home, but understandably showed considerably greater movements than inpatients, who spent most of their time in the hospital.
As expected, patients with phobias or anxiety about leaving safe spaces were strongly associated with much less mobility and a much smaller area of activity. However, no other symptoms of mental health problems seemed to have the same effect on a patient’s daily movements.
In contrast, higher levels of emotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, psychological flexibility were consistently associated with more movement and a greater range of movement.
“Our results suggest that activity alone is not enough to reduce symptoms of mental disorders, but it can at least improve subjective well-being,” explains clinical and health psychologist Andrew Gloster of the University of Basel.
The findings add to a limited body of research on the effects of daily activities among those with mental health problems. In fact, this is one of the first studies to use GPS tracking as a measure of spontaneous movement.
Obviously, in the real world, this data can be seen as a violation of patient privacy, but in a study setting, it allows researchers to examine the effects of simple activities that often go unnoticed.
Physical activity has been shown to substantially improve well-being and mental health, but most research on this topic has so far focused on deliberate exercise. Today, it is unclear how spontaneous movement in daily life affects patients seeking mental health treatment.
Last year, a small study of 67 participants found that everyday activities, such as walking to the tram or climbing a flight of stairs, make people more alert and energetic.
Other MRI images of the participants’ brains showed that those who felt more energetic after the movement had a greater volume of gray brain matter in the subgenual cingulate cortex – a part of the brain associated with emotional regulation.
Finding out how to apply this knowledge to prevent and treat mental health problems is another matter, but simple movements can be a harmless starting point.
“We are currently facing severe restrictions on public life and social contacts, which can adversely affect our well-being,” said neuroscientist Heike Tost in November 2020.
“To feel better, it can help to climb stairs more often.”
Merely leaving home can also play a contributing role. Physical activity in nature as a child has been associated with better mental health outcomes in adulthood, and doctors in some parts of the world have begun to “prescribe” time in nature as a stimulus for physical and mental health.
The new GPS study is small and limited, but the findings suggest that movement may be an indicator of how well patients with mental health problems are coping overall.
“The results point to the fact that movement patterns (for example, distance, number of destinations, variability of destinations, etc.) can serve as a marker of functioning and well-being,” conclude the authors of the new study.
Much more research needs to be done to confirm and expand these findings, but the authors suggest that using GPS may be a non-intrusive way to better examine simple daily activities and their effects on mental health and well-being.
The study was published in BMC Psychiatry.