Physical activity as a complementary therapy in mental health diseases

Abstract

Objective: The main objective of this article is to answer the questions that are inferred about physical activity as a complementary therapy for people with mental health diseases.

Methodology: This research article corresponds to a non-systematic narrative review, focused on the literature published in English during 2019 until September of this year. The search strategy was the selection of research in the databases: Pubmed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, using the keywords: Physical Activity and Mental Health; Exercise and Mental Health; Mental Illness and Exercise. In total the author selected a total of 23 studies.

Results: Sufficient evidence was found about the benefits of physical activity and exercise as protective factors for noncommunicable diseases that are part of the nonpharmacological treatment of these diseases.

Conclusion: The integration of physical exercise into mental health care could improve recovery rates and reduce the burden of disease and could also allow more patients to reach and eliminate the workload of health professionals more quickly.