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Robert Burton’s closing words in his 1621 book ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’ were: ‘be not solitary, be not idle.’ He was obviously a wise bloke bc all the modern-day studies back that up. I would add: avoid drink/drugs+spend time in nature, otherwise he was spot on. Eternal wisdom
My TL is peppered with studies attesting to these facts https://twitter.com/atsommerlad/status/1356172966388768768?s=20
I might as well turn this into a thread where I put all these studies in one place https://twitter.com/JMeyer37/status/1354091298794446848?s=20
................ https://twitter.com/post_liberal/status/1359255524492128258?s=20
................ https://twitter.com/ActiveBuildings/status/1341274491599659009?s=20
................. https://twitter.com/ActiveBuildings/status/1319286828994736128?s=20
.................. https://twitter.com/ChristophBurch/status/1355072637580488704?s=20
.................... https://twitter.com/simon_rosenbaum/status/1251679272642547712?s=20
...................... https://twitter.com/simon_rosenbaum/status/1251679279538028544?s=20
.................. https://twitter.com/simon_rosenbaum/status/1251679290518728705?s=20
................ https://twitter.com/simon_rosenbaum/status/1251679292695523328?s=20
.................. https://twitter.com/robkhenderson/status/1345084520974974984?s=20
................ https://twitter.com/post_liberal/status/1345112436056203265?s=20
.................... https://twitter.com/wef/status/1346494182362386433?s=20
................ https://twitter.com/whyvert/status/1347205124062498827?s=20
............... https://twitter.com/karmelchoi/status/1295383740638789633?s=20
................... https://twitter.com/karmelchoi/status/1295383747869790208?s=20
................. https://twitter.com/foundmyfitness/status/1297980115138183168?s=20
................... https://twitter.com/UCL_Loneliness/status/1336276918707105792?s=20
‘Frequency of in-person social contact with friends and family independently predicts risk of subsequent depression in older adults. Clinicians should consider encouraging face-to-face social interactions as a preventive strategy for depression.’ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5527991/
.................... https://twitter.com/nicknorwitz/status/1309101333237112834?s=20
................... https://twitter.com/VasilikiOrgeta/status/1275380510311809031?s=20
‘Sedentary behaviour displaces light activity throughout adolescence, and is associated with a greater risk of depressive symptoms at 18 years of age.’ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30034-1/fulltext
‘Total physical activity levels, in terms of self-reported active minutes or energy expenditure per day, decrease by around 7% each year between the ages of 10 years and 19 years.’
‘Total physical activity levels were higher in boys than in girls at all ages.’
‘A 60 min/day increase in sedentary behaviour was associated with a higher depression score at 18 years of age.... For every 15 min increase of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at age 12 years, depression scores were 9·0% lower at age 18 years’
Burton was right & Johnson (who tried to modify Burton’s maxim) wrong.
Social isolation & sedentary behaviours are inter-linked
‘This study found a dose-response trend between loneliness and increasing hours spent in leisure-time sedentary behaviour.’ https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/loneliness/loneliness-sedentary-behaviour/
Social isolation & sedentary behaviours are inter-linked
‘This study found a dose-response trend between loneliness and increasing hours spent in leisure-time sedentary behaviour.’ https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/loneliness/loneliness-sedentary-behaviour/
‘Dog ownership was associated with a 24% reduction in all cause mortality....the benefit was highest for dog owners who lived alone.’
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/08/health/dogs-help-us-live-longer-wellness/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/08/health/dogs-help-us-live-longer-wellness/index.html
‘Our findings suggest that both fat mass & height (short stature) are causal risk factors for depression...reducing fat mass will decrease risk of depression, which lends further support to public health measures aimed at reducing the obesity epidemic’ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0516-4
Social connection
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/25-october/news/uk/report-detects-anxiety-among-young-churchgoers
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/25-october/news/uk/report-detects-anxiety-among-young-churchgoers
‘Low and medium cardio-respiratory fitness are associated with a greater risk of common mental health disorders. Cardio-respiratory fitness appears to have a dose-dependent relationship with common mental health disorders.’ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016503271931691X
Social connection
Social connection https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1201823661411446787?s=20
‘Associations between stressful life events and adolescent outcomes were statistically significantly lower in neighbourhoods with greater social cohesion’ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/protective-effect-of-neighbourhood-social-cohesion-on-adolescent-mental-health-following-stressful-life-events/65CFACCC585786C0B58DB191E2A17E28
‘Greater neighbourhood social cohesion appeared to buffer the effects of stressful life events on several domains of adolescent mental health.’
‘A 2019 study of 35,000 children and adolescents from 6 to 17 in 
.... found that those who reported no exercise were twice as likely to have mental health problems.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/well/family/the-benefits-of-exercise-for-childrens-mental-health.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755296619300067
.... found that those who reported no exercise were twice as likely to have mental health problems.’https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/well/family/the-benefits-of-exercise-for-childrens-mental-health.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755296619300067
‘Large research project on European adolescents....They studied more than 11,000 13-15-year-olds in 10 countries & found only 13.6% of them met the recommended guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/well/family/the-benefits-of-exercise-for-childrens-mental-health.html
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61213-7/fulltext
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/well/family/the-benefits-of-exercise-for-childrens-mental-health.html
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61213-7/fulltext
‘There was a clear association between more frequent physical activity and lower levels of depression and anxiety.’
The importance of social connection:
‘The study also found that being on a sports team was associated with an extra improvement in mental health, beyond what was associated with the physical activity — and it was particularly strong for girls.’
‘The study also found that being on a sports team was associated with an extra improvement in mental health, beyond what was associated with the physical activity — and it was particularly strong for girls.’
The importance of social connection https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/family-carers/weekly-singing-in-choir-may-improve-the-mental-health-cancer-carers/
‘If you volunteer at least once a week, the increase to your happiness is like moving from a yearly income of $20,000 to $75,000. If you have a friend that you see on most days, it’s like earning $100,000 more each year.’ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/social-connection-makes-a-better-brain/280934/
‘Simply seeing your neighbors on a regular basis gets you $60,000 a year more. On the other hand, when you break a critical social tie—here, in the case of getting divorced—it’s like suffering a $90,000 per year decrease in your income.’
Its almost as if we evolved to be active, social animals but the way that many of us now live today (i.e sedentary & isolated) does not offer us enough opportunity to live in accordance with that nature & this ends up making us feel deeply unhappy isn't it?
