Lifestyle Interventions Crucial for Mental Health Care, Warns International Commission

Mental health services worldwide must invest in lifestyle interventions, targeting physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and smoking, to address the 15-year life expectancy gap faced by people with mental illness, a new Lancet Psychiatry Commission report warns. A team of 30 authors from 19 countries, led by Dr Scott Teasdale, have outlined a roadmap for reform, emphasizing the importance of transforming systems to support health and wellbeing.

Key Takeaways:

• The report highlights the critical need for mental health services to increase investment in lifestyle interventions to improve care and address the 15-year life expectancy gap faced by people with mental illness.
• Lifestyle interventions targeting physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and smoking are key to mental health care, and making changes to these lifestyle risk factors can ease symptoms and improve overall health and wellbeing.
• The Commission recommends eight key actions and 19 priorities for implementing lifestyle interventions in mental health care systems worldwide, including upskilling mental health staff, enabling access to allied health professionals, and creating psychologically safe environments.
• The report emphasizes the importance of partnering with people who live with mental illness to ensure that interventions are culturally sensitive and take into account social and economic realities.
• Embedding exercise and nutrition specialists into services at top training and research institutions is also critical for driving systemic change.

Statistics:

• People with mental illness face a 15-year life expectancy gap compared to the general population, largely due to preventable conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
• The report reviewed 89 recent lifestyle interventions and 18 meta-analyses to determine the most effective approaches.
• The Commission recommends allocating increased funding for lifestyle interventions, upskilling mental health staff, and enabling access to a broader range of allied health professionals.
• Implementing lifestyle interventions effectively can be cost-effective, reducing substantial healthcare and societal costs in the long run.

Sources:

• Lancet Psychiatry Commission report 'Implementing lifestyle interventions in mental health care'
• The Lancet Psychiatry Physical Health Commission
• UNSW Sydney's Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health and Mindgardens Neuroscience Network
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders (2020)
• Kerala University of Health Sciences
• University of Queensland