National wellbeing has dipped to the lowest levels since records began. But, no matter where we’re at, post-lockdown, we can rebuild our mental and physical fortitude
WORDS CHERYL FREEDMAN. PHOTOGRAPHS ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES, STOCKSY
Collectively, we’re not in a great place right now. A report by the London School of Economics earlier this year concluded that the nation as a whole is ‘just under the threshold for psychiatric morbidity’ (meaning we’re more at risk of developing depression and anxiety). Analysing indicators including happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety, researchers recorded ‘substantially worse’ levels of wellbeing when compared with 2019.
This probably won’t come as a massive surprise. 2020 has been a lot of things, but easy isn’t one of them. Whether you or someone you love became ill, you changed or lost your job, or you were simply busy adapting to measures such as mask-wearing and working from home, chances are you found things challenging on some level.
As you’d expect, how well we’ve adapted partly depends on our individual situation and individual psychology. However, the path to wellbeing is a complex mix of the different parts of our lives. If you’re struggling right now, try these ideas for getting back on track.
THE WELLBEING HOLE: Feeling unfit
For many, activity levels plummeted this year. ‘People were doing less incidental exercise than usual, as they couldn’t leave the house. Even when people visited the gym again, many still worked from home, so were still generally less active,’ says Constantin Hampe, CEO at Surge Fitness (surge. co.uk). ‘Unfortunately, over time, this has had a negative impact on overall fitness and wellbeing. The human body is built to move.’
Sitting at our computer for long hours while working from home is part of the problem. ‘The muscles in our bodies need activating regularly to strengthen and support the body,’ says Hampe. ‘Otherwise strain and pressure is applied to the skeletal structure, leading to bad posture and poor blood circulation. This can be linked to health issues, such as back pain and heart-related conditions.’
BUILD YOURSELF BACK UP Think small as well as big
Integrate more daily movement into your life again. Hampe says that for long-term fitness, we need a combination of incidental, lower-intensity NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) – walking to the shops, cleaning – and EAT (exercise activity thermogenesis) – your usual workouts. ‘Commute’
