Sharing this blog post to celebrate 25 days of Red January- a campaign to help people overcome the January blues and support their mental well-being through exercise.
“Experiencing depression and anxiety is challenging for anyone, never mind a student in a crucial stage of their life. How can a student put 110% into their course work if they are constantly battling feelings of depression or anxiety?
We need to come up with new solutions and prioritise support for students struggling. If we don’t, mental illness can prevent a student reaching their full potential and achieving what they want from life.”
Society has always recognised that we must take care of our physical health. Many people across the world 'eat healthy' (whatever that means) and engage in daily physical activity aiming to look after their physical body. However, looking after our mental health and well-being is never been a priority.
However, in the last few years, our understanding and acknowledgement of mental health has radically changed. There is now a general acceptance that we can all experience mental health problems. We can all suffer. The human experience is suffering.
Depression and mental illness is not discriminatory. It can affect anyone at any time.
The percentage of students experiencing depression and anxiety has dramatically increased.
Why?
There are many theories attempting to explain the sudden increase in mental illness amongst students…
-lack of connection and sense of belonging
-less job security, pressure, worry, stress to over achieve
-social media; sets up a competition between a person’s virtual and real life, more comparisons to other people's lives, online bullying, less face to face contact and conversation with people
-people feel isolated and alone
-other lifestyle factors; lack of physical activity (many people spend most of the day sitting), increased screen time, poor diet (fast food, snacks) and poor sleep.
How does depression make us feel? It affects everyone differently, however there are common themes...
Feeling like there is a black cloud above your head, stress, lack of motivation, dullness or numbness, lack of confidence, lost sense of purpose, loss of concentration, feeling isolated, alone; like the only person to experience this pain in the world : Link to a blog I wrote about my own experience..
There are many proposed solutions, medication being the most common. However, it comes with a range of negative side-effects…
Active travel and physical activity can play a huge role in treating and preventing mental illness; without the bad side-effects.
Walking or cycling to college or university is a great way to be active without thinking about it too much.
When you feel depressed, everything seems like a huge amount of effort.
Active travel can become an unconscious activity or habit. It requires little effort or decision making because the destination is our goal. We don't need to overthink it, there is no question because you have to go. This means our brain doesn't have the chance to say no thank you, I will just skip the gym after college.
Mental and physical benefits
Beginning our day with a 15-minute cycle or walk can dramatically change our mood. We get to our destination feeling good. This sets a positive tone for the day, it prepares us to learn and leaves us feeling accomplished. Unlike the crowded bus or traffic filled road that may leave us stressed.
Overtime, the small win of walking or cycling to college accumulates. We build momentum and begin to make other positive changes in our life.
Active travel allows a person to see daily improvements and feel a small sense of accomplishment. This is significant to a person experiencing mental health issues, especially when everyday can be a struggle to find meaning and purpose…
We also save money, reduce our environmental impact, gain fitness, maintain a healthy weight, gain confidence and contribute to global climate change.
This is not a cure that will radically change everything.
Mental health struggles can seem overwhelming, small steps can lead to big improvements over-time.
Breaking each day down and asking what can I do today to make myself feel a bit better?
Over-time, things will gradually improve.
Active travel has no negative side-effects, so why not give it a go? We have nothing to lose and so much to gain….
If you are struggling or know someone who is, there are lots of charities and organisations to provide support.
Find comfort in knowing you are not alone. Just like our physical health, we all have a mind that we need to look after.
Further reading and support
How to deal with depression, by Samar Habib
A raw and real article that shares personal experiences of depression and lessons learned along the way. Really amazing info graphics that share practical and helpful information.My favourite lessons:
# 11 Understand The Life Cycle of Expectations
# 12 The Importance of Cultivating Loving Kindness
Top tip for motivation? Download a podcast to listen to whilst you walk to distract the mind.
Fern Cotton’s podcast Happy Place is a great one to start with. Fern and her guests share their experience of mental health and the methods they have developed overtime to combat feelings of depression and anxiety.
Bryony Gordon's podcast Mad World is also brilliant
Great articles about the benefits of active travel and cycling on mental well-being;
"Glentress hosts mountain biking mental health pilot scheme"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-46958995
“Cycling to work: major new study suggests health benefits are staggering” https://theconversation.com/cycling-to-work-major-new-study-suggests-health-benefits-are-staggering-76292
"The role of active travel in improving mental health"
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