We sometimes seem to be in the middle of an epidemic of mental health problems. There are higher levels of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses than ever before, particularly among young people. The big question is whether there is anything we can do to avoid these conditions.

We all know the importance of eating ‘five a day’, or five portions of fruit or vegetable every day, to maintain physical health. While the science behind the precise number is somewhat dubious, the importance of eating well —and particularly, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables— to maintain health is not in doubt.

But what about the mind? Are there things that you should, or should not do, in order to keep your mind healthy?

Nobody is suggesting that it is possible for everyone to avoid all mental health problems. However, many scientists would say agree that there are things that can be done to maintain a healthy mind.

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Sound Mind, Sound Body

There is a certain amount of truth behind the Latin tag ‘mens sana in corpore sano’, or ‘a sound mind in a sound body’.

There is no question that people who have chronic problems with their physical health often also suffer mental health problems. This is probably not surprising, because it is hard to cope with constant pain, or the debilitation that goes with a long-term physical health problem. However, are the two more closely linked?

On a relatively superficial level, looking after yourself physically can also make you feel better about yourself. It is certainly easier to cope with high levels of demands on your time and energy if you are physically fit. More importantly, though, your mind and body are not two separate systems. They are completely connected, and your physical and mental health cannot be disentangled. In fact, some scientists suggest that your mind and body should not even be seen as two separate systems, but as one and the same.

The placebo effect is one example of this (and our page on Positive Thinking explains more about this) but there are more extreme examples (see box).

Does this mean that there are specific actions that you should take to keep your mind healthy? Or is staying physically healthy enough?

Eating the Right Food

A good diet is essential for physical health. A growing body of evidence suggests that it also makes a difference to your mind.

The Mental Health Foundation notes that a good diet is important for mental health. It also suggests that diet can play a role in the development, management and prevention of several specific conditions, including schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Alzheimer’s disease.

That is not to say that diet can control these conditions, nor that it should be looked upon as a panacea or cure-all, or that other treatments should be stopped in favour of a particular diet.

However, diet may play a role, alongside other treatments, in the management of these conditions.

The Mental Health Foundation notes that fewer than half of those who report mental health problems consume fresh fruit every day, compared with more than two thirds of those who do not report mental health problems. The issue here may be somewhat ‘chicken and egg’: does a poor diet contribute to the problem, or does the problem cause the lack of interest in eating healthily?

The answer, it would seem, may lie in your guts, and more specifically, your gut microbiome.

This is the huge number of micro-organisms living in your gut—or strictly speaking, their genetic material—including bacteria, fungi and viruses. There is now growing evidence that improving the health of your gut microbiome could reduce the symptoms of some common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Most of the high quality studies to date come from animals rather than humans, and the mechanism is unclear—but this is certainly a promising area of research.

The key steps you can take to improve the health of your gut microbiome include:

• Eating more wholegrains, fruit and vegetables—and particularly a wider variety of fruit and vegetables, including nuts and seeds;

• Eating less ultra-processed food such as junk food, many ready meals, and most pre-packaged snacks and sweets; and

• Eating fermented food and probiotics such as live yoghurt and mature cheese.

There is more about this in our page on Understanding and Improving Your Gut Microbiome. You may also find it helpful to read some of our pages on food, diet and nutrition, which explain more about what we mean by a ‘healthy, balanced diet’.

The Importance of Exercise

David Linden, Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, suggested in an interview that the most helpful thing that anyone could do for their mind was to take 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day.

Linden explained that we do not really understand what’s behind the beneficial effects of exercise. However, scientists have observed that exercise causes all the blood vessels in the body, including in your brain, to dilate. This changes the metabolic capacity of the brain. Exercise also makes the brain secrete certain chemicals which help keep neurons healthy and able to change.

All this sounds like a very good thing for the brain and the body.

However, does it have a genuine effect on mental health? The answer is that there is definitely a connection (see box).

The real question is whether this connection is causal—and in which direction?

Does taking exercise help to prevent the development of mental health problems? Or do people with mental health problems take less exercise?

There is growing consensus that it may be causal, and in the ‘right’ direction (that is, exercise helps reduce the risk of serious mental health problems). The mechanism for this is not clear, but scientists have come up with some good theories. These include:

• Exercise makes you feel good about yourself and improves your self-esteem. This in turn improves your mental health, via a more positive body image and stronger self-belief;

• Exercise helps people to get out and about, and build and maintain social contacts. This is certainly not the whole story, but there are studies that suggest that it may be important. Loneliness is certainly associated with several common mental health problems;

• Exercise may increase the release of growth factors in the brain, which seem to be disrupted in people with depression. It also seems to affect the size of different parts of the brain, and these are often different in people with depression; and

• Exercise may reduce inflammation, which seems to play a part in some mental health conditions, including anxiety, in some people.

It seems likely that several of these mechanisms are in play, and that the effects may vary in different people.

See our page: The Importance of Exercise for more. To get started on a new programme of exercise, especially if you have not exercised for a while (or at all), you may find our page on How to Exercise Safely and Effectively is helpful.

Keeping your Mind Active

There has been plenty of speculation in the press over many years about useful ways to slow down brain degeneration in ageing and, particularly, how it might be possible to overcome Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

One suggestion is that doing crosswords, and other puzzles or 'brain-training' that keep your brain active, might be helpful. However, this is likely to be far less helpful than physical exercise. This is because doing puzzles uses only a small part of your brain and does not do anything for the rest. The effects of exercise, however, are much wider.

However, if you cannot do exercise for some reason, doing puzzles is likely to be better than nothing.

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Social media, smartphone addiction and mental health

There is growing evidence that there is a strong association between smartphone use, particularly social media use, and poor mental health.

It is not entirely clear what causes the link. However, there is considerable speculation that social media leads people to make comparisons between their own life, and the carefully curated lives that they see on screen. It seems that however much we understand, logically, that nobody’s life is perfect, it is hard not to think that what is presented on social media is reality.

It has also been speculated that ‘fear of missing out’ drives us to wish to remain connected in case we ‘miss’ something important.

There is more about this in our page on Social Media and Mental Health.

There is growing evidence that it is important to get into the habit of switching off your smartphone periodically—and not just at night.

For example, many schools are now banning phone use during the school day. Some have even banned phones from the premises. This helps young people to ‘switch off’.

Many workplaces now also accept that the pressure to be connected is damaging and are taking action to protect their workers. Some, for example, are starting to encourage workers to have someone else change their email password before they leave for a holiday so that they cannot check their email while away. In France, workers now have a legal right not to check emails or receive work calls outside working hours.

It is important to resist pressure to be ‘always on’. Tell people that you will be turning off your phone—and then do so.

Try taking time out from technology: spend time outside, or reading a book, perhaps, instead.

There is more about this in our page on Problematic Smartphone Use. Parents may also be interested to read our page on Screentime for Children.

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The ‘Good’ Mind

There is more to mental health and a ‘good’ mind than simply avoiding dementia and other mental illnesses.

The mind is shaped by all the experiences, ideas and thoughts to which it is exposed. To a certain extent, then, you can choose what you ‘feed’ your mind, just as you can choose what you feed your body.

What you choose to consume for your mind can be described as your ‘mind diet’. Your ‘mind diet’ can make your mind more or less ‘healthy’, and certainly more or less interesting.

Your 'Mind Diet'

It is worth taking a few moments to consider your ‘mind diet’ every now and then.

Ask yourself:

• How good is my mind diet? Is it what I would describe as a ‘balanced diet’, of different types of ideas and subjects? Or do I tend to focus more on one type of input?

• In particular, what is the balance between ‘junk’ and ‘healthy’ mind-food?

• What effect is this having on me as a person? You might need to ask friends and family to give you an honest assessment if you are concerned about this.

• What can and should I do to improve the balance?

When Things Go Wrong: Mental Health Problems and Conditions

Just as some people are more likely to catch colds, some people are more likely to develop a mental health problem or condition.

When this happens to you, it is important to seek help. If it happens to someone you know and care about, you should encourage them to ask for help. If necessary, you might facilitate that by making appointments with a doctor, or accompanying them to appointments. This is important because the symptoms of many common mental health conditions include apathy and an inability to do things.

• You can find out more about some of the most common mental illnesses on our pages Depression, Anxiety, and Eating Disorders.

• You may also find our pages on Types of Depression and Treatments for Depression useful.

Many mental health conditions first manifest during adolescence. Parents in particular may therefore find it useful to read our page on Teenagers and Mental Health.

Some mental health issues come and go with the seasons. The most common manifestation is feeling depressed in the winter months, when the light levels are low. However, some people feel worse in the summer. This is known as seasonal affective disorder, and can often be treated by lifestyle changes such as changing your diet or exercise patterns.

One social condition that is often associated with mental health problems is loneliness. Whether mental health problems are isolating, or loneliness can develop into other problems is a moot point. However, overcoming loneliness is often a good first step towards avoiding mental health problems. You can find out more in our page on Loneliness.

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The Challenge of Maintaining your Mental Health

Of course, just as physical illness can affect anyone, so can mental illness, regardless of lifestyle. If it affects you, you should always consult a doctor. Nobody is suggesting that you can cure mental illness by simply consuming the right diet and taking exercise—although this can contribute to the management of your condition.

Science does, however, suggest that there are many things that we can do to keep mind and body as healthy as possible and contribute to improved outcomes in the event of illness.

Common sense suggests that it is relatively easy to eat a healthy diet, and take exercise, and that the benefits to both mental and physical health would more than outweigh any inconvenience. Turning off your smartphone periodically is also likely to pay dividends in the longer term.

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