Learning Activities

Chapter 9

In Class

These tasks are designed for small discussion groups of two or three people and for larger group feedback/discussion of the various answers.

1. Who is healthy? Describe a famous person (that everyone in the class would know) who you consider to be ‘healthy’ in the broadest definition of that term (e.g., mental and physical health). Be ready to say why you have selected this person. What makes you think that this person is mentally healthy?
2. Can you provide a lay person's definition of good mental health?
3. In what ways could regular physical activity promote good mental health?
4. List three mental illnesses that you know of.
5. What would you say were the key symptoms of someone with depression?
6. In what ways could physical activity help someone who is depressed?
7. Critique the evidence for physical activity as a treatment for depression. List some reasons that might explain why doctors often do not suggest exercise as a treatment for depression.

Out of Class

This activity is designed to help you think about the nature and context of exercise in the treatment of depression. The following paper is a research report of data on individuals interviewed over several time periods: Faulkner, G., & Biddle, S. J. H. (2004). Exercise and depression: Considering variability and contextuality. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 26, 3–18.

If you cannot access this paper, here is the abstract and a brief synopsis of two case studies extracted from the paper.

Abstract: Research continues to support the consideration of exercise as an adjunctive treatment for depression. Adopting a qualitative approach, the aim of this study was to extend our understanding of the motives and barriers to exercise faced by this clinical population, and to explore the role of physical activity in promoting psychological well-being, in a way that encompasses the variability and contextuality of the lives of individuals. Marking a departure from standard content analyses reported in the literature, instrumental case studies are developed that offer a different format for representing qualitative data. Given its longitudinal nature, this study demonstrates the fundamental importance of considering the wider context of participants' lives in order to understand