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May 22

Of mind and body: Laurel Hill’s InSHAPE program utilizes exercise to boost mental health – The Register-Guard

Exercise Programs Comments Off on Of mind and body: Laurel Hill’s InSHAPE program utilizes exercise to boost mental health – The Register-Guard

The benefits of exercise on physical fitness are widely known, but the positive impact that exercise can have on mental health often can be overlooked.

At Laurel Hill Center, a rehabilitation center for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses, participants in a uniquely combined physical and mental fitness program called InSHAPE have experienced health improvements in the year since the program began.

InSHAPE was implemented at Laurel Hill Center by Dartmouth College in July 2016 as part of a two-year research project to study how people experiencing mental illness benefit from individualized, regular exercise with health mentors. Studies have shown that people with serious and persistent mental illnesses have a lifespan that is 20 to 25 years shorter than the general population, and the InSHAPE study aims to find ways to close that gap.

Laurel Hill Center is the only West Coast participant in the 40 mental health facilities accepted into the study.

Dartmouth finances the program, which includes free gym memberships at International Fitness for the 24 participants and funds for two health mentors, Desi Mantey and Ina Goodman, who support each participant. After the two-year research project is finished, Laurel Hill Center plans to continue the program with donations and support from the community.

Manety, an experienced personal trainer, and Goodman, a registered nurse, provide companionship and help participants focus on exercise and healthful eating. They begin by creating a Self Health Action Plan for Empowerment (SHAPE) with each participant to help them visualize what they want to get out of the program. The mentors work out with each participant once a week, and participants are encouraged to go to the gym on their own or in groups a few other times throughout the week.

One participant, Donna Kirkpatrick, has bipolar disorder and said that she had never heard of anything like InSHAPE before getting involved with the program. She said that health resources and encouragement for people with mental illnesses are scarce, and InSHAPE was her last resort for getting healthy.

If we got bipolar or schizophrenia or whatever, its twice as hard, she said. It really is, because we have good days and we got bad days, and when we have our bad days, its really hard to even want to get out of bed, let alone go to the gym.

Shes lost a lot of weight over almost a year since she started the program and said she doesnt even need to take blood pressure medicine anymore. Its easier for her to stay active than it was when she started, but she was quite resistant in the beginning and actually quit the second day. Finding types of exercise that she enjoys, like swimming, has made the process easier.

If it hadnt been for the encouragement and coaching from the health mentors, she might not have stuck with it.

Now, Kirkpatrick said her self-esteem and energy have gone way up.

It gives us more self-confidence out in the public, she said. You know with me, all of a sudden I was diagnosed with this mental illness and all of a sudden youre labeled, and its like, Im not different than you! I have to take pills, so what! I maintain.

Goodman said she feels proud of Kirkpatrick and the rest of the participants reaching their health goals, and she is grateful to be a part of that process.

What I love to see is the amount of effort that people are making to really do something good for their lives, their feelings and their self, she said.

Participants encourage each other in the program, too, like two best friends who made a pact to work out together every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If one of them isnt feeling motivated, the other tries to boost their confidence and get them to the gym.

They have a really great relationship in that they support each other, and also it adds to the whole socialization skill-building that we really would like everybody to work on, Goodman said of the best friends.

New physiological studies show that regular exercise can mimic the effects of anti-depressants in people who experience depression. Exercise can make neurotransmitters in the brain fire more often, leading to more happy chemicals (endorphins) being released.

Leslie, who has major depressive disorder and did not want to reveal her last name because of the social stigma related to her disorder, said she can absolutely attest to this.

With depression, you get a foggy kind of feeling, and thats all gone right after exercise, she said. I can barely get off the couch, so I needed the support. Im very glad, very blessed and grateful for the support.

Leslie said she has never stuck with any type of program as rigorous as InSHAPE for so long, and she has noticed a big increase in her stamina. She used to start panting after walking just a few blocks or up a flight of stairs, but now can spend 50 minutes working out on the bike at the gym.

I dont know how I do it, its just I dont wanna be on a walker, and I dont wanna use a cane, she said. I just dont want to get old, I wanna be able to go hiking, ride a bike, climb a flight of stairs without, you know, Oh, my knees hurt! Oh, my back hurts!

Leslie said that there are many aspects to her recovery that she has to work on, including her physical, mental and spiritual wellness. InSHAPE makes it easier because she feels she is treated with great care and respect and is never looked down upon.

It makes me feel good that I can be in society and in a community and nobody would know I have a mental illness, she said.

Even though Leslie said she often whines and says she doesnt actually enjoy being at the gym, Mantey and Goodman never lose faith in her: They never say quit, they always say keep going, keep going.

Mantey said that the fact that Leslie keeps coming to the gym and exercising even though she doesnt love doing it is a huge accomplishment.

When you dont even like it that much but youre still doing it, thats a huge thing, especially for these two, she said while pointing at Leslie and another participant. I cant get rid of them! Every single time Im working out at the gym on my own, theyre there.

Health mentor Mantey said that there are many small, joyful moments she has shared with the participants that have made this job rewarding for her. She wrote her college thesis on the effect of exercise on post-traumatic stress disorder, so it has been incredible for her to see, in real time, how participants experiencing mental illness benefit and grow from the program.

Working with this population, everybodys just so much more grateful for the little things, she said. I feel like thats a really huge thing and it makes us kinda realize its the little things that count, and were making a big difference in these peoples lives. Thats what is pretty awesome.

One of the participants she works with could not do a sit-up for the first few months of the program. Mantey always told him that it was alright, and hed get the hang of it eventually.

Then, all of a sudden, one day he just started doing tons of sit-ups; Mantey couldnt believe her eyes.

Hes like, Im doing sit ups! I was like, WHAT?! And he just started glowing. Its just little things like that, she said.

Tara Hubbird, community relations specialist at Laurel Hill Center, said that this participant volunteers at their food pantry and used to get winded from lifting boxes there. When Mantey sent Hubbird a video of this participant running on the treadmill, she teared up.

Ive seen people in this program blossom, Hubbird said.

Leslie and Kirkpatrick agree that this program has been revolutionary for their mental and physical health. They said that programs such as InSHAPE that combine mental and physical health and offer companionship could really help people experiencing mental illnesses.

It gives us energy, it helps with depression, it helps with everything, Kirkpatrick said.

Follow Tess on Twitter @Tess_Novotny. Email tess.novotny@registerguard.com.

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Of mind and body: Laurel Hill's InSHAPE program utilizes exercise to boost mental health - The Register-Guard

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