Psychosis symptoms reduced with exercise

Symptoms of psychosis in teens and young adults may be reduced after a first psychosis episode through exercise, according to new findings. Study author Joseph Firth said, “Establishing an exercise regime for people with psychosis is likely to be much more effective when they are younger, and in the earliest stages of treatment. Getting people into a routine early on also helps set habits for life, which can make a huge difference to their long-term physical and mental health.”

The life road for young teens that experience psychosis can be difficult, with high rates of unemployment, drug abuse, premature death, and weight gain.

The study looked at 31individuals who experienced their first psychosis episode and underwent personalized workout routines for 10 weeks supervised by a researcher. Each week, each participant completed 107 minutes of vigorous exercise.

At the end of the 10 weeks, 27 percent of patients in the exercise group saw a reduction in psychosis symptoms, compared to only seven percent in the control group. The latter only received mental health treatment and were not given a workout plan.

The exercise group also showed improvements in brain function and experienced weight loss. Previous studies have found that exercise can have improvements in those with schizophrenia.