Uticopa Blog

 Not only are the Olympics coming to London in the next few years, but now the Rugby Union World Cup too.  Never has there been a better time to gen up on all those sports which interest you and try to get fit yourself.  No longer is it sufficient to merely be an armchair supporter. Taking part in your favourite sport will give you a body to be proud of, but that's not all. It isn't just the physical aspects that will improve your health.  It's good for your mental health too.

Let's face it:  it's been a long, hard few years for most of us.  Maybe you have struggled with the economic down-turn or been unfortunate enough to lose your job. The stresses and strains have been a big burden for many of us, sometimes resulting in marital breakdown or mental health problems such as depression or worse.

Take the case of Leigh Bailey. His world was in tatters - he had a breakdown, lost his job, his wife and his children. He was so depressed he couldn't even bring himself to leave the house. Clearly he was suffering from low self-esteem. But today he is brimming with confidence and has recently qualified as a gym instructor.

And to what does he credit this dramatic transformation?  He enrolled in a 10-week Boxercise course run jointly with the Croydon branch of Mind and three times world champion Duke McKenzie. Boxercise is a fitness class which incorporates a number of boxing moves and techniques, but without the physical contact.

Leigh says that it really inspired him."Before I started the Boxercise programme I was suffering from agoraphobia, low self-esteem and depression, I wasn't working or leaving my house other than to attend medical appointments. It had a major impact in helping me regain ownership of my own life."

Exercise has long been considered as beneficial to mental health, but it is thought that this is the first time that Boxercise has been used in this way. At first, there was some anxiety among health professionals that Boxercise and boxing methods might actually increase aggression and violence among people with mental health problems.

However, in practice, this has certainly not been the case whatsoever. What it has done is to improve physical fitness in all participants. In some there was quite noticeable weight loss. This is quite important to help prevent health risks such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

Whereas previously, people who would probably reluctantly attend a mental health clinic were actually turning up at the gym two hours early. That's how empowering it is. They were really keen to be there and there was a noticeable shift in their self-esteem and confidence.

What the Boxexercise organisers found was that by encouraging people to do a boxing work out - a little bit of cardio, skipping and the step-machine and rowing machine, followed by some gym work - really made even previously-introverted people open up mentally. 

Duke McKenzie, joint-organiser of the course, said "It has been my most rewarding project bar none. I now have four people from Mind working with me at the gym, including Leigh who is my right-hand man. I take no credit from the fact that they have done so well because at the end of the day they have got to want to get better. Not everybody I have worked with has kept themselves on track, but the four I have working for me - well, you have got to see it to believe it."

Leigh admits he was reluctant to take part at first, but by the end of the programme was hooked and believes the exercise combined with a change in medication had inspired the change. "By the fifth session I had a lot of confidence and had started to eat properly and sleep. I was managing to go out and see people and by the end of it I had got the boxing bug. Boxercise gave me self-motivation, rather than waiting for people to motivate me."

The Croydon scheme has just been presented with a Health and Social Care Award, run in partnership between the Department of Health and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

"We are trying to get people to take part in mainstream activity as a way of getting re-engaged with the real world rather than doing something in typical mental health settings. It has been a good way of mixing people up. What happens in mental health is you tend to get lumped together with people with the same diagnosis and people say 'I have nothing in common with these people apart from my diagnosis'. What we are doing is putting people with a common interest together and we find they have developed good friendships," say the organisers.

This seems a remarkable example of how to use innovative methods to treat both those early-warning signs of approaching mental problems as well as those with long-term mental disease. 

So, take Leigh's example and get fit - physically and mentally!