Housework Helps Combat Anxiety And Depression

New Scientist ^ | 4-19-2008

[blam]

Housework helps combat anxiety and depression

19 April 2008

From New Scientist Print Edition.

FEELING down? You might be able to dust away your distress. Just 20 minutes a week with the vacuum cleaner or mop is enough to help banish those blues, and sport works even better.

That's the message from Mark Hamer and his colleagues at University College London, who wanted to find out what benefits arise from different types of physical activity. They examined data from questionnaires filled in by almost 20,000 Scottish people as part of the Scottish Health Surveys, carried out every few years. Some 3200 respondents reported suffering from anxiety or depression, but those who regularly wielded the mop or the tennis racket were least likely to suffer, the researchers report (British Journal of Sports Medicine, DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2008.046243).

One 20-minute session of housework or walking reduced the risk of depression by up to 20 per cent. A sporting session worked better, reducing risk by a third or more. Failing housework or sport, says Hamer, try to find something physical to do. "Something - even for just 20 minutes a week - is better than nothing."

[processing please hold]

I dance around to 50’s music when I swiffer my floors. It’s head rotates which makes it easier for some of the trickier dance steps.

[Politicalmom]

The problem is, my children ignore the ELEPHANT!! :p

[D-fendr]

Excuse me.. there's a little.. smudge on your.. computer.. screen