{"id":18951,"date":"2018-11-29T15:09:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T15:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukactive.com\/news\/the-importance-of-mental-health-awareness-for-the-physical-activity-sector\/"},"modified":"2018-11-29T15:09:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T15:09:17","slug":"the-importance-of-mental-health-awareness-for-the-physical-activity-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukactive.com\/cy\/news\/the-importance-of-mental-health-awareness-for-the-physical-activity-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"The importance of mental health awareness for the physical activity sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/strong>Dr Dane Vishnubala, Chief Medical Adviser, Active IQ<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How are you feeling today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I expect you said \u2018Fine, thanks\u2019. Because, whether it\u2019s true or not, saying you\u2019re OK is the stock response most people expect to hear.\u00a0 But it\u2019s OK not to be OK.<\/p>\n

We should tell someone we\u2019re having a bad day.\u00a0 And, more importantly, we should be more alert to someone needing a chat or support.<\/p>\n

Mental health is highly topical and rightly so.\u00a0 But we are in danger of throwing the term around as a \u2018catch all\u2019 state of mind.<\/p>\n

Depression and anxiety are key symptoms that most of us are familiar with.<\/p>\n

But so too are bereavement, stress, lack of energy, feeling tired all the time, feeling agitated, not wanting to talk to people or be in another\u2019s company, feeling tearful, finding it hard to cope with everyday tasks and increasing intake of alcohol or drugs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tricky to spot these signs in passing \u2013 as they come into your gym or join a group exercise session, for example.\u00a0 If fitness professionals had time to watch people more closely they may spot a change in pattern or some of these symptoms.<\/p>\n

While we don\u2019t have time to watch everyone closely, we do have time to have a quick word, properly listen and not take \u2018I\u2019m fine\u2019 at face value.<\/p>\n

Y 2016 \u2018Key facts and trends in mental health factsheet\u2019<\/a> from the Mental Health Network NHS Confederation is packed with insight: these few statistics illustrate the scale of the problem in the UK.<\/p>\n