Can lifestyle medicine improve global mental health?

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Sugden, Steven G.;Merlo, Gia;Manger, Sam
Abstract

Rationale: The global impact of mental health, specifically depression, is expected to be a top concern by 2030. Despite the growing number of medications and interventions, access to resources for well-being, psychiatric medications, and psychotherapy continues to be a long-standing barrier, regardless of a person’s socioeconomic position or wealth of their country. Objectives: This article will review the relevance of the lifestyle psychiatry pillars for treating depression and will also include a review of their impact on climate health. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken using predefined search criteria on PubMed and Google Scholar. Results: There is a bidirectionality between mental health and physical illness as individuals with poor mental health have higher comorbid medical conditions and vice versa, which further supports a common theory to chronic illness (both physical and mental). Lifestyle interventions show increased efficacy in the treatment of chronic illness, and the same interventions positively support climate health. Conclusions: The benefits of lifestyle interventions are often overlooked, but they are scientifically significant, well-tolerated by patients, and can address modalities of illness. Lifestyle psychiatry can become an integral tool for global mental health providers.

Journal

Academia Mental Health and Well-Being

Publication Name

Academia Mental Health and Well-Being

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1

ISBN/ISSN

2997-9196

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Publisher

Academia.edu Journals

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DOI

10.20935/MHealthWellB6224