Body, mind—and animals: tips to boost mental health

For nearly 70 years, Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) has declared May to be Mental Health Month.

The 2018 theme focuses on the impacts of physical fitness on mental health. Capella University’s Leslie Korn, PhD, is a core faculty member in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She’s also a major proponent of looking at integrative ways of working on achieving and maintaining good mental health. She recently discussed four ways people can work on supporting their mental health.

1. Pay attention to your physical health.

Physical health and mental health are linked, says Korn. “It’s so important to integrate body-based activity for a positive effect on mental health,” she explains. “We know that regular aerobic exercise can help reduce anxiety and depression, for example, and exercise in general has been linked to a decrease in cognitive decline.”

But she notes that it’s not a simple prescription; one must take into account individual circumstances. “There are different kinds of physical activity, and we need to be careful of what is recommended for whom,” she says. “Everyone considering a new exercise routine should consult with their physician and therapist to ensure they choose a program that is best suited for their particular circumstances and goals.”

Exercise needs to go hand-in-hand with nutrition. “In my practice, I’m a big proponent of what I call mental health nutrition,” Korn says. “What we put in our bodies fuels not just the body, but our brains.” It’s a message she shares not just with her patients, but with other clinicians through continuing education seminars.

“We have to look at every aspect of nutrition,” she says. “If someone says they’re struggling with insomnia and anxiety, we should ask, ‘How much coffee do they drink?’ ‘Are they getting enough essential fatty acids?’ There’s a lot of sophisticated medical science around mental health nutrition.” In fact, the American Psychological Association recently reported that many preliminary studies seem to show a link between nutrition and mental health.

2. Don’t ignore your circadian rhythm.

“The circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle governed by light and dark,” says Korn. “Light, particularly different kinds of light, can affect people for worse or for better. People need to pay attention not just to hours of sleep, but the conditions around sleep. For example, aim to have a consistent bedtime, reduce noise that may interfere with sleep (or add in white noise to promote relaxation), ensure your mattress is supporting you well, and consider appropriate room temperature and lighting. With as many electronics as we have available to us in today’s world, lighting in particular can impact sleep quality as the blue LEDs can cause confusion to the brain and disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythm.”

3. Talk therapy can help.

While proper care of the body is critical to achieving and maintaining good mental health, there are many instances where it’s not enough on its own. Korn is also a big advocate for the importance of talk therapy, especially in combination with proper food and exercise.

“People have a deep need to talk about their life experiences and to understand them. We have to come to terms with our own wounds, make sense of them, not just personally, but universally. Then we have to transcend them. We can use our losses to grow.”

4. (Hu)man’s best friends can play a role.

There’s one other tactic Korn recommends for improving mental health: animals. “I’m a big fan of animals,” she says. “I use canines in my practice for companion therapy. They’re great both for treatment and daily living.”

It’s not just because many of them are so cuddly (although that can certainly play a part). “A person who’s depressed may get an animal, and now they have something external to care for, to care about,” she says. “They have a reason to get up in the morning. They need to feed the animal. It draws them out of themselves and into a caretaking capacity. Animal companions can help improve work and reduce anxiety.”

That explains why more and more often, animal companions—are being brought into various situations to provide temporary therapy. Recent examples include dogs visiting college campuses to dogs visiting patients in hospitals to therapy dogs who visited Parkland, Florida after the traumatic shooting.

It doesn’t hurt that animal companions can help humans bring in the other aspects that Korn points to as important to mental health; animals often encourage outside activity which in addition to exercise exposes their owners to a healthy dose of Vitamin D through natural sunlight. If you are lucky enough to find a local animal-friendly bistro, take a break and enjoy some healthy food with your companion.

Students in Capella’s counseling programs connect with faculty experts like Dr. Korn and develop skills to make a positive impact in the field of mental health treatment and awareness. Learn more about Capella University’s online counseling programs.