Do you like our matching Shetland beanies? Very warm. I just must share one more photo of our holiday before it drifts from my memory.   

In a previous newsletter I shared the joys – and benefits of walking in nature. 

Below I share a fascinating article which shows that not all bouts of depression are the same. 

This means we need to treat it differently using traditional methods – like medication and therapy. The 7 lifestyle strategies below help prevent all types of depression.

What do you think is #1 prevention lifestyle strategy.

PS. In my presentation – Resilience for uncertain times – I recommend each of the 7 strategies below. SEE DETAILS. Would you like me to present to your team in October – Mental Health Month?

 Science reveals 7 lifestyle factors to reduce your risk of depression. But why?

Make no mistake – the employee mental health crisis is far from over. We need to share these findings.

This comprehensive review (published in Nature Mental Health) of 290000 British adults by the University of Cambridge – shows that depression is often used as an umbrella term – for a range of disorders with different genetic, biological, psychological and environmental causes.

 This also means that it requires different treatments. For instance, only about a third of people prescribed anti-depressants benefit from them.

This means helping those with depression is an imperfect art but, regardless of the cause, our lifestyle can play a role in preventing and treating it.

These 7 lifestyle factors were associated with a reduced risk of depression:

Getting between seven and nine hours of sleep (22 per cent)

Not smoking (20 per cent)

Frequent social contact (18 per cent)

Regular physical activity (14 per cent)

Not being too sedentary (13 per cent)

Consuming no more than small to moderate levels of alcohol (11 per cent)

Consuming a healthy diet, as per the dietary guidelines (6 per cent).

What we choose to do each day has a big impact on our mood. 

#mentalhealth #depression #resilience #mentalhealthspeaker