Leapfrog Encourages Young People To Get Moving

Mental Health Awareness Week October 5 – 11, 2009

LEAPFROG CLINIC experts encourage young people to get moving

Mental Health Awareness Week starts on October 5, with activities encouraging people to use “Winning Ways to Wellbeing”.

“We all need to prioritise good mental health and we all have a part to play in our own wellbeing,” says Judi Clements, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, which organises the annual event. “With one in five New Zealanders experiencing some form of mental illness in any one year, using effective tools to promote wellbeing is essential.”

“One of the ways young people can improve their mental health is by exercising,” says Dr Sabina Dosani, Medical Director of the Leapfrog Clinic.

Children who exercise for 40 minutes a day, five days a week, are more even tempered, less hyperactive, less impulsive and sleep better than their sedentary friends.

One in five young people under 21 will experience mental illness.

Most mental illnesses begin during youth (12-21 years of age), although they are often first detected later in life. There’s good evidence for early intervention and self-management for children and young people with various illnesses, such as asthma and diabetes. Many people don’t realise that mental illness can also be detected and treated early. Delays in diagnosis, failure to involve patients in treatment and poor follow up can lead to further deterioration of illnesses such as eating disorders and depression.

Poor mental health is strongly related to other health and development concerns in young people, notably lower educational achievements, substance abuse, violence, and poor reproductive and sexual health.

“Antidepressants take two to three weeks to kick in, which can feel like forever when you’re a depressed teenager,” says Dr Dosani, “so play basketball, take a belly dancing class, try Brazilian ju-jitsu or mountaineering. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you get out of breath for at least twenty minutes three or more times a week. One of the best bits about exercising to max your mood is instant results.”

Exercise helps treat depression in several ways. For starters, it gets your brain’s chemical communicators that are out of kilter in depression back into balance. It releases endorphins, your body's natural uplifting, depression-busting chemicals. One of these is phenylethylamine and hits the same brain circuit as amphetamine, causing the so-called runner’s high. Exercise also nukes a stress substance called cortisol, relaxing you. This also releases muscle tension, and helps you sleep better. As if that’s not enough, exercise gives us warm feelings of accomplishment, cranking up self-esteem. So what? Self-esteem is instrumental in beating depression. Most teenagers who are depressed stop liking themselves.

Whether you’re exercising for the first time, or coming back after a break, planning keeps you on track. Here are four tips for success:

1. Choose fun exercises.
2. Set exercise reminders on your phone.
3. Why not select a team sport? You’re less likely to miss a session if you’re letting the side down. It also helps you make friends.
4. Hang in there. After three weeks it’ll feel like second nature.

The Leapfrog Clinic is passionate about providing high quality treatment for children and their families. We see young people up to the age of 21, where there are concerns about their behaviour or emotional wellbeing. We also listen and talk to their families.
We strive to help each young person achieve his or her utmost potential. We achieve this by offering only the best clinicians delivering evidence-based care in the best settings. We are a specialised, dedicated team for children and teenagers. Everything from our staff training to the clinic environment reflects this.

We ask families and referrers to complete a pre-assessment questionnaire so that time is spared. Our assessments take 90 minutes which includes a full medical examination by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. These people are also qualified medical doctors. If necessary there will also be tests to investigate for conditions like epilepsy, diabetes or an overactive thyroid.

Within 7 working days of your Leapfrog assessment families will be posted a report. These are usually several pages long including a description of what the underling difficulties are, what has triggered this particular problem and what is keeping it going. The report will also include a list of treatment recommendations. These may include medication, individual, family and group therapy

ENDS

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