Here’s one for your diary for this coming weekend to help your mind and your body. Ed
A fun event to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get physically and mentally fitter is being held this week.
A ‘Treasure your Mental Health’ Treasure Hunt Walk will take place on Sunday 7th November at The Heights Leisure Centre in Sandown followed by a lunch at The Heights when people return from the walk.
All welcome to take part
The event is suitable for individuals, teams and families, including children in buggies, and involves a 3.5 mile cliff top and shore walk between Sandown and Shanklin.
Starting with registration at The Heights between 10 and 11am, participants will head off with their routes and hunt for clues related to mental health and wellbeing. Everyone participating will receive a free ‘Treasure Your Mental Health’ Back Pack and Pedometer.
Rachel McKernan, NHS Health Promotion Specialist said: “One in four adults experience mental health problems, that’s almost 28,000 people on the Island. Mental Health problems can happen to anyone and at anytime, they are not a sign of weakness.
Rachel continued: “This event is about bringing people together to get moving for the benefit of their mental health, but also to find out what else they can do to keep themselves mentally healthy, or to help them recover from mental health problems. For too long there has been a massive stigma surrounding mental health problems. Now is the time to be open about mental health. Let’s start talking about it and end the stigma.”
National campaign
‘Treasure your Mental Health’ is part of the Time to Change campaign which aims to make life better for everyone by ending mental health discrimination.
Throughout the year the Island’s NHS has been developing activities across the Island to encourage people to socialise and get active together to improve their well-being.
This year’s event follows on from the success of last year’s ‘Get Moving’ Challenge which saw over 240 people step up to the challenge to increase the amount of physical activity they undertake each day and over the course of two weeks, record the number of steps taken using their free pedometer.
Many went on to participate in the 5 mile ‘Get Moving’ Walk which was held on Saturday 7th November at Medina Leisure Centre.
Many benefits
The benefits of getting more active for your physical health are well known, for example, reducing your risk of all chronic illnesses such as stroke, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
However, the benefits of getting more active for your mental health are much less well known.
If you keep active you are:
* Less likely to be depressed, anxious or tense
* More likely to feel good about yourself
* More likely to concentrate and focus better
* More likely to sleep better
* Less likely to feel angry or frustrated
* More likely to have a healthy appetite
* Less likely to develop memory problems in later life
As well as reducing the risk of developing mental health problems, being active can also help people to recover from them. For mild to moderate depression, physical activity can be as effective as anti-depressant medication.
Exercise releases natural brain chemicals, such as dopamine and seretonin which improve mood and increase thinking ability and can provide a focus, a goal to aim for and a sense of purpose, leading to increased self-esteem and confidence.
Register in advance
Anyone interested in attending the ‘Treasure your Mental Health’ event must register in advance by sending their name and the age of any children attending to Rachel McKernan, NHS Health Promotion Specialist at [email protected] or by telephoning 01983 538024 or 07596 744673
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Image: SoapBeard under CC BY-ND 2.0
