6 Ways that Physiotherapy Benefits Mental Health

While physiotherapy can help you in some tangible way, it can also benefit you in mental health.

Generally, mental health refers to how you think and feel, and some aspects of good mental health include good emotional experience, balanced thinking, and good stress management strategies.

Mental health problems affect one in four people at some point in our lives due to the psychological effects of injury or illness, addictions, pain, brain injury, or life experiences. However, physiotherapists have come up with stress-relieving techniques that are surprisingly effective in improving your mental health. Here are several benefits of physiotherapy to mental health.

1. Physiotherapy helps in pain management

Did you know that chronic pain can lead to mental disorders? Anxiety and tension increase your chances of depression. The good news is that it can be managed through physiotherapy sessions; your physiotherapist will first identify the source of pain. For instance, if you are experiencing back pains, he/she will analyze all aspects of your life from work to leisure activities before treatment.



He can also prescribe or guide you through exercises related to your goals since constant practices are effective in reducing pain. They can also use various manual techniques to treat pain like joint mobilization, passive stretching, and cupping, trigger point release, or manipulation.

Physiotherapists also operate some devices like electric vibrators and medical lasers to reduce muscle tension and aid in pain reduction. Additionally, they discuss your source of pain and also train you on how to safely proceed with your rehabilitation as they give realist goals on your treatment and recovery.

2. Physiotherapy Improves Sleep

Sleep and mental health are closely related when you can’t sleep; you feel the effects both physically and mentally in the next day. Lack of sufficient sleep can lead to anxiety, headaches, or fatigue. As adults, we all need to sleep seven to eight hours daily to improve productivity; if you have irregular sleeping patterns, you can visit a physiotherapist. They will give you several recommendations to help improve your sleeping habits, for instance, if you are unable to sleep due to pain, they give pain-relieving exercises or appliances you can use to manage the pain completely.

Some of the things that your physiotherapist will recommend are that you adopt a regular sleeping and waking up the pattern. They will also support a bedtime relaxing routine and teach how to create a conducive environment that facilitates sleeping, for instance, a dark room, free of noise or use of eye masks and earplugs.

Some will even advise you to avoid napping during the day or taking alcohol and caffeine before bedtime. Most physiotherapists identify pre-existing conditions that could affect your sleeping habits and help you adopt lifestyle changes and routines to help you fall asleep faster and get back to having a quality slumber.

3. Physiotherapy Reduces Anxiety, Stress, and Depression

Not only can physiotherapy helps manage stress, but it also prevents you from becoming depressed again. It stimulates the body’s nervous system and acts as a remedy to reduce stress. It also improves body functioning by suppressing the Cortisol hormone, which elevates depression levels.

During physiotherapy, you uptake various exercises that drive your mind from life worries drifting you away from negative thoughts that contribute to depression and anxiety. The therapy session also strengthens your social interactions, just exchanging friendly smiles and greeting others during physiotherapy can help you feel better.

It promotes various changes in your brain, including neural growth and new activity patterns, which bring a sense of calmness and well-being. Try to imagine the sensation of your feet hitting the ground as you coordinate breathing while feeling the wind on your skin. The mindful element helps to relieve tension, stress hence boosting mental health.



Do you ever experience muscle tense, worry, and discomfort when under stress? Physiotherapy exercise session helps to break this cycle by relaxing your muscles and relieving tension since your body and mind gets closely linked, giving you a good feeling in your body and mind. If you regularly take physiotherapy sessions, you have lower levels of depressive disorders due to increased steroids reserves through exercises that become accessible to counter stress.

4. Physiotherapy Improves the mood

There are various simple things you can do to uplift your mood but physiotherapy is the most effective in relaxing your mind for a better mood. We all understand that when you are in a bad mood, you can’t fully concentrate on anything, whether your job task or home responsibilities.

Specifically, physiotherapists guide you through favorable exercises that stimulate your brain to release endorphin chemicals throughout your body, a natural mood lifter that makes you feel good. By increasing the number of physical activities daily, you promote new brain cell growth and increase positive mood-boosting neurotransmitters which bring about positive energy.



Additionally, they give you some focused exercises to give you a sense of accomplishment to increase your confidence. When you achieve the set goals, you will definitely feel good about yourself all day. Because physiotherapy requires considerable physical effort, it quickly boosts your mood, especially if you struggle with an illness that could crush your emotions and reduce self- confidence.

5. Physiotherapy Increases Endurance and Stamina

Physiotherapists will help you recognize some internal strength to navigate through life’s problems promoting better life quality, joy, and less fear. They take you through endurance exercises that require you to push further past your comfortable limits for more extended periods to build muscular and cardiovascular endurance.



Our minds are intimately connected to the body , and as we shove our bodies physically, the mind also becomes stronger. Endurance training teaches you that each time you go through something painful, you are more robust and resilient enough to push past it.

When you are suffering from mental health disorders, you are more likely to focus on wrong things; endurance exercises helps to provide a strong focus by challenging you to achieve a goal and refocus on healthy aspects of life. Life will always have challenges; all we need to do be resilient enough to overcome; endurance therapy teaches us how to be strong enough to bounce back from stress and improve well- being to boost our mental health.

6. Physiotherapy Boosts Self-confidence

If you have anxiety, you will often have esteem issues, which makes it difficult for you to face life’s reality.

For instance, when you have low self-esteem, you will find it very difficult to express yourself at your place of work, which can create a lot of problems.

A physiotherapist knows how exactly to set goals that are challenging and helps you to reach them; this could feel challenging but is also exciting. Wouldn’t you agree that accomplishing set goals gives a significant boost to your self-confidence? They encourage you to take an active role in your treatment; you will feel more in control, which will subsequently improve what you think about yourself.



Through physiotherapy, most patients discover that they are capable of doing much more than they think, and this sense of capabilities boosts your mental health. They also guide you through various exercises to promote your physical self-worth and essential self- perceptions like body image to boost your esteem.

Conclusion

Would you want to receive the mental benefits of regular exercise ?

Make efforts to contact a physiotherapist who will guide you through a soul, body, and mental wellness program. Good mental health is fundamental to all for the well-being of society.

Several physiotherapy interventions are effective in providing psychiatric health care, treatment, and rehabilitation to empower individuals through the integration of physical and mental aspects.

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Author Bio:

Patrick Hanley, founder, and director of APC Physio. Patrick is an experienced physiotherapist who helps his clients consistently achieve their maximum potential on their journey to achieving pain-free daily living.

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