Although this might be the first time that you are hearing about “Douglas Minds the Body”, it will certainly not be the last. Douglas Minds the Body is a new initiative, spearheaded by Ridha Joober, MD, PhD, Director of the Schizophrenia research program and psychiatrist at the Douglas Institute and William (Bill) Harvey, PhD, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University and Research Associate at the Douglas Institute.

Mental health and physical health

The raison d’être for this initiative is the sobering fact that people with mental illness frequently experience more physical health problems than the rest of the population. “We know that people with mental illness are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, and studies have shown that people with severe mental illness actually have life expectancies that are 20 years less than those of the general population,” says Ridha Joober.

Activities in the community

The goal of the Douglas Minds the Body initiative is to encourage people with mental health problems, who frequently have issues with their weight, diet and physical health in general, to be more active and develop a healthier lifestyle. “We decided that a great way to motivate people would be to encourage them to participate in community-based physical activities,” explains Dr. Joober.

The health benefits of physical exercise are well-known, but there are also mental health benefits, especially if people become active out in the community. “Physical exercise induces neurogenesis. It creates new brain growth,” explains Bill Harvey. Dr. Joober adds, “Studies have shown that physical activity improves mental health and improves the health and plasticity of the brain.

Brain-imaging studies show that physical activity helps to improve the volume of the hippocampus, for example.” Getting involved in physical activities out in the community will also help to overcome the problems of isolation and lack of socialization experienced by many people with mental illness. Patients who participate in Douglas Minds the Body will have opportunities to become more connected, to be more socially involved and to create links with others out in the community.

The Montréal Oasis Marathon event

A well-known annual community event that involves a big festival and lots of physical activity is the Oasis Montréal Marathon held in September. This event includes 5- and 10-kilometre runs or walks as well as a half-marathon and the full marathon, and many people in the Montréal community prepare for and participate in this event. Mind the Body aims to encourage patients and employees to take part in the Oasis festival by running or walking, and both.

“One of the ways we plan to accomplish this is by opening it up to the staff, and thus encouraging collaboration between staff and patients to become physically active together,” says Bill Harvey. “If the staff members are exercising, they’re improving their own health as well as modeling the behaviour that we hope people will adopt. We would like to see the staff encourage patients to join them in forming teams to participate in the Oasis event on September 25.”

Training assistance

Patients can train at their own pace. If they need counselling or advice, they may ask the staff members of their clinic on how to get started. The Roberts Centre at the Douglas will provide such help to patients who  are willing to prepare for the event. Some clinics have developed links with fitness community centres who agreed to offer their services at a very low cost. All of this is designed to reinforce the focus on community-oriented physical activity. “Ideally, we want people to be completely and fully in the community while  participating in physical activities, rather than in recreational centres of the hospital”, explains Dr. Joober.

Another part of the plan for the Douglas Mind the Body initiative is $100 prizes to be awarded to each patient in either one of the following teams: the team having the most number of patients or the team having completed the highest number of kilometres. For example, if a team of two staff members and three patients takes part, and each staff member runs the full 42.2 km marathon while each of the patients runs 5 kilometres, their total would be 104 kilometres, and if their total is the highest, then the cash prize would go to the patients on that team. Additional $50 prizes will be drawn among other participating patients.

The Douglas Institute needs you!

This program is made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Douglas Institute Foundation. If you want to help us finance this initiative, please take a moment to make a donation to the Foundation. Simply indicate in the space allotted on the donation form that your donation is designated to the "Douglas minds the body" project.