Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Lifestyle changes should be placed at the centre of mental health treatment, according to an international panel of specialists.
A new report from the Lancet Psychiatry Commission stresses that mental health services need to rapidly boost funding for lifestyle-based approaches in order to improve outcomes and reduce the 15-year life expectancy gap experienced by people with mental illness.
The report, produced by 30 contributors across 19 countries, highlights that interventions focused on exercise, diet, sleep quality, and smoking cessation are crucial to mental health care.
The lead author Dr Scott Teasdale, a dietitian and Senior Research Fellow at UNSW Sydney’s Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health and the Mindgardens Neuroscience Network pointed out that our daily habits can shape both our mental and physical wellbeing.
Dr Teasdale stated that individuals living with mental health conditions often encounter obstacles to staying active, maintaining a nutritious diet, achieving restorative sleep, and giving up smoking. These challenges worsen their mental health and drive further physical health inequalities.
He indicated that adjusting these lifestyle risk factors has been shown to relieve symptoms and boost overall health and quality of life, making it a valuable complement to psychological treatment and medication, however, individuals living with mental illness require ongoing support to make such changes.
Dr. Teasdale further noted that this is not just about changing individual habits—it is about reshaping systems to promote health and wellbeing.
The Commission’s report, Implementing lifestyle interventions in mental health care, lays out a global roadmap for embedding lifestyle-based strategies into mental health services. This includes integrating exercise and nutrition experts, as well as shifting workforce perspectives toward a more holistic model of care.
It follows on from a 2019 Commission report focused on safeguarding physical health in people with mental illness—who, on average, die 13 to 15 years earlier than the wider population, mainly due to preventable diseases like diabetes and heart conditions.
For this latest study, the researchers analyzed 89 recent lifestyle intervention trials—addressing exercise, diet, smoking, and sleep—along with 18 meta-analyses to identify the most effective methods.
The process produced eight recommendations and 19 priority actions, which were reviewed by individuals with lived experience and a Global South Advisory Group – a panel of 14 specialists from low-income or conflict-affected nations – to make sure they could be applied effectively in different contexts.
The document is one of two reports released on Wednesday by The Lancet Psychiatry Physical Health Commission. The second, led by the University of Queensland, examines how to prevent and manage the physical health side effects of medication.
The researchers indicated that greater investment, training for mental health professionals, and improved access to a wider network of allied health experts are seen as crucial steps to more fully integrate lifestyle-based strategies into mental health treatment.
“Mental health services have traditionally focused on medications, crisis care and therapy, and lifestyle hadn’t been prioritised — in funding, training or service delivery,” explained Dr Teasdale. “We previously didn’t have the evidence on the benefits of lifestyle changes, but that’s no longer the case.”
The senior author Professor Simon Rosenbaum from UNSW’s Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health indicated that although approaches to care need to be adapted for each setting, many fundamental principles remain consistent.
Professor Rosenbaum stressed that they highlighted shared components that are relevant everywhere, irrespective of location.
These principles include fostering psychologically safe spaces and equipping support staff with the compassion and expertise required to deliver trauma-informed, culturally appropriate care.
“Embedding these interventions must be done in partnership with people who live with mental illness, and with attention to the social and economic realities they face,” added Professor Rosenbaum.
