Authors: Niamh Allum, Dr Tony Westbury
Year: 2019
Publisher: Napier University
Evaluation of the Glentress Mountain biking & mental health project
Abstract
There is strong and growing evidence for the benefits of physical activity for mental health and wellbeing in both clinical and non-clinical populations (Rebar & Taylor, 2017).
Evidence suggests there is a 10 to 25 year mortality gap in people with mental health conditions (Barber & Thornicroft, 2018). Much of this mortality is linked to cardiovascular issues, for example people with anxiety disorders are 52% more likely to develop a CVD than the general population (Batelaan, Seldenrijk, Bot, van Balkom, & Penninx, 2016), and that individuals with depression have a 1.5-fold increased risk of CVD than people without depression (Kemp & Quintana, 2013).