Exercise Your Mood Week 11-19 September

 Exercise your Mood Week in an initiative of The Black Dog Institute.

For information on the benefits of exercise on depression read the fact sheet online at The Black Dog Institute.  Its easy to join in. Gather your friends, family and colleagues to participate in an Exercise You Mood event; Or organise your own; set up your own online fundraising page; purchase some of The Black Dog Institute merchandise; or volunteer. 

Depression and other mental illness not only have a huge emotional impact on both a sufferer and their family and friends but it also results in some very crippling physical effect. It is often ignored and many would argue, does not receive the health funding needed to combat the effects.

The Black Dog Institute reports some shocking facts and figures that we should all be aware of:

• One in five Australians experiences a mental illness within a 12-month period.
• In 2007, almost half (45%) of all Australians had experienced a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime. [1]
• The World Health Organisation estimates that depression will be the number one cause of disability in both the developed and developing worlds by 2030. [20]
• Mood disorders (i.e. depression and bipolar disorder) are overall more prevalent among people in the 35‐44 age group, while for women they are much more prevalent in the 18‐24 age group, than for other age groups. [5]
• Depression can be inherited. The genetic risk of developing clinical depression is about 40%, with the remaining 60% being due to stressful events in a person’s life, alone, or in conjunction with the individual’s personality style.

The Black Dog Institute is an educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility offering specialist expertise in mood disorders - a range of disorders that include depression and bipolar disorder (formerly called 'manic depression'). The Institute is attached to the Prince of Wales Hospital and affiliated with the University of New South Wales.

The Institute's mission is to advance the understanding, diagnosis and management of the mood disorders by continuously raising clinical, research, education and training standards. In so doing, the Institute aims to improve the lives of those affected - and in turn - the lives of their families and friends.

For more information on the Institute visit www.blackdoginstitute.org.au. You can also support the Institute by checking the products and services that support them here.