Social support is also important for health, especially when recovering from an illness. A dog provides companionship and may be a way of getting to know other dog owners in the neighbourhood.
However, the studies do not prove that dog ownership has a direct effect on health, only that it seems to be linked to longer life. While people who enjoy the company of dogs may benefit from exercise and companionship, the study does not show that people who are happily social and active without dogs should get one.
Ultimately this research cannot prove cause and effect. Both optimism and lifespan may be influenced by many hereditary, health, lifestyle and personal factors. People with a good overall standard of health and wellbeing are probably more likely to be optimistic about their future. While researchers attempted to adjust their analysis for these sort of factors, it's hard to remove their influence fully.
It's also questionable how applicable the results of these optimism assessments, taken 15 to 30 years ago from very specific groups of older US nurses and war veterans, are to the general UK population.
Nevertheless the research highlights the importance that mental health and wellbeing can have on physical health.
Although many home nations fans might find sitting through this year’s rugby world cup matches a little too nerve-racking at times, the NHS says watching the sport can actually be good for your mental health and wellbeing.
When leaders seek to create a healthy working environment for their employees, often the focus will be on improving physical wellbeing, such as using office furniture that supports the body effectively or encouraging the use of laptop/screen stands to prevent neck pain. However, it is crucial that leaders seek to create a working environment that also takes care of the mental health of employees. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
"Although we should be cautious about the study findings, they represent another potential reason to adopt a Mediterranean diet. We already know the diet is good for our hearts – adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle may well be good for our mood, too."
The suggestion that children should have limited screen time, enough sleep and plenty of physical activity isn't particularly controversial.
This study adds to evidence that these might be sensible lifestyle adaptations for children.
But this type of study can't prove that any one of these is directly responsible for children's mental abilities.
a senior doctor has claimed that watching football can be good for mental wellbeing.
The NHS director has said that for older people in particular there are clear benefits from watching classic football matches like England’s 1966 world cup final victory, including keeping the brain active and stimulating memories. Several members of the nation’s golden generation of 1966 have experienced dementia, with winners Nobby Stiles and Martin Peters currently living with the condition.
This study adds to the evidence that good sleep at night and activity during the day is linked to better mental health.
The big question is exactly how this link works and what "direction" it's travelling in: does poor sleep and sluggish activity during the day affect people's mental health, increasing their chances of mood disorders, or do mood disorders affect people's ability to sleep well and be active during the day?
Because of the nature of the research, we can't say that exercise alone was the reason people were less likely to get depressed. Other associated factors, such as long-term illnesses, might also be involved. There are other limitations to the study, which may make the results less accurate. For example, many of the pooled studies relied on people self-reporting the amount of exercise they did, which can be prone to error.
Nevertheless, this comprehensive study adds to previous evidence suggesting exercise is not just good for reducing symptoms of depression, but may also prevent it.
Singing in groups could help improve individuals’ mental health, according to research by the University of East Anglia.
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