Exercise & Your Mental Health

By: John Braucher, MSW
Exercise is the super drug! Well, okay, it is not a drug, and that means no bothersome negative side effects. Scientists have been studying the effects of exercise on mental health for more than 100 years. Due to new technology in the last 15 years more exciting research has been done to identify the impact of exercise on the brain, general health and more specifically on mental illnesses, ranging from depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease. Read More!

Do You Know?
• Suicide is fourth leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 65 years in the United States, with 27,321 suicides.
• Ninety percent of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
• Currently, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.
• A person dies by suicide about every 16 minutes in the United States. An attempt is estimated to be made once every minute.
• Every day, approximately 90 Americans take their own life, and 2,300 more attempt to do so.
• Risk factors for suicide among the young include suicidal thoughts, psychiatric disorders (such as depression, impulsive aggressive behavior, bipolar disorder, certain anxiety disorders), drug and/or alcohol abuse and previous suicide attempts, with the risk increased if there is situational stress and access to firearms.
• Over 60 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression. If one includes alcoholics who are depressed, this figure rises to over 75 percent.
• Ninety-six percent of alcoholics who die by suicide continue their substance abuse up to the end of their lives.
• Alcoholism is a factor in about 30 percent of all completed suicides.
• Although most gun owners reportedly keep a firearm in their home for "protection" or "self defense," 83 percent of gun-related deaths in these homes are the result of a suicide, often by someone other than the gun owner.

Information from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention