Referred to as common mental disorders, depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of global disability worldwide. Despite considerable research and improved treatments for mental disorders, many affected individuals still suffer due to a range of reasons. Common barriers to improved mental health include costs of accessing treatments, delays in treatment availability, social stigma, side effects and non-responsiveness, and workforce shortages. Important research is being conducted to improve current treatments and develop new treatments, however research to identify behaviours or risks contributing to the development of depression and anxiety is needed to prevent these disorders.
Recent research has demonstrated that poor lifestyle behaviours may be effective targets for mental health prevention. These lifestyle behaviours include poor diet, physical inactivity, poor sleep, and tobacco smoking. We already know that targeting these lifestyle behaviours leads to physical health benefits, however we are now beginning to see that there are additional mental health benefits. Specifically, increasing research suggests that lifestyle behaviours play an important role in the development of anxiety and depression. Therefore, increased research focusing on these lifestyle behaviours may inform strategies to potentially prevent anxiety and depression in the population. Particularly, we need more evidence to understand how much of the risk of depression and anxiety is because of lifestyle behaviours, and how many new cases of depression and anxiety may be due to these behaviours. In epidemiology, this estimate is referred to as the population attributable fraction.
This project aims to estimate the risk of common mental disorders due to poor lifestyle behaviours, including poor diet, physical inactivity, poor sleep, and tobacco smoking. We will also estimate the proportion of new depression and anxiety cases that may be due to these lifestyle behaviours. This project will take approximately 1 year to complete and will contribute to a student’s Doctor of Philosophy thesis. This knowledge can then be used by governments and policymakers to improve policies and interventions targeting mental health prevention, by targeting impactful risk factors. Hopefully, this research will contribute to the reduction of the number of individuals in the community experiencing mental ill-health.
