Depression, Illness Perceptions and Exercise

June 10, 2021

Many people experience a decline in their mental health following an injury. Surveys have shown that approximately 20 to 50 percent of people with musculoskeletal conditions show signs of elevated depressive symptoms. Depression has been identified as a risk factor for poor recovery outcomes, longer claim times and increased work absence after a work-related musculoskeletal disorder.

We tend to develop an idea about our injury to make sense of it and adapt to the difficulties that it causes, known as an illness perception. Illness perceptions are emotional and cognitive representations that you have around your injury and are not only based on symptoms, but also the injury-related consequences, past experiences, and related anxiety. Studies have shown that negative illness perceptions and the injured worker expecting a slower recovery is associated with increased depressive symptoms, reduced adherence to treatments, poorer treatment outcomes and longer claim times. It is possible that recovery expectancies are the vehicle by which depression influences return to work results in those with musculoskeletal injuries. Individuals who were 100 percent certain that they would return to work within 6-months have been found to be 4 x more likely to return to work during that time. Therefore, positive illness perceptions are important and result in improved health outcomes, quality of life, function, and emotional status.

Exercise and physical activity can provide numerous benefits for not only musculoskeletal injuries, but for depressive symptoms as well. For individuals who participate in regular physical activity, even at lower levels, they are at decreased risk of experiencing symptoms of depression and are less likely to experience future depressive episodes. Further, regular exercise can assist in weight management, improving diabetes control and decrease the impact of cardiovascular disease, which often occurs in those with depression.

Treating professionals should talk to their clients about an exercise regime that suits their personal preferences and circumstances. An Accredited Exercise Physiologist has specialized training in the construction and delivery of exercise and lifestyle interventions for individuals with work and non-work related chronic and complex illnesses, including depression. Illness perceptions often present as a barrier to commencing and maintaining an exercise routine. Thus, it is vital that the exercise professional has an in-depth understanding of the client’s condition and comorbidities to best assist in the individuals exercise and recovery journey.

Tiffany Mullins B.Sc, M.Clin.Ex.Phys

Accredited Exercise Physiologist

 

References

Berk, M., Sarris, J., Coulson, C., & Jacka, F. (2013). Lifestyle management of unipolar depression.  Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica ,  127 , 38-54. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.12124

Carriere, J., Thibault, P., & Sullivan, M. (2014). The Mediating Role of Recovery Expectancies on the Relation Between Depression and Return-to-Work.  Journal Of Occupational Rehabilitation ,  25 (2), 348-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-014-9543-4

Exercise is Medicine. (2014).  Depression and exercise  [Factsheet]. Exercise is Medicine Australia 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2021, from www.exerciseismedicine.org.au.

Mammen, G., & Faulkner, G. (2013). Physical Activity and the Prevention of Depression.  American Journal Of Preventive Medicine ,  45 (5), 649-657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2013.08.001

Stanton, R., Happell, B., & Reaburn, P. (2014). The mental health benefits of regular physical activity, and its role in preventing future depressive illness.  Nursing: Research And Reviews , 45. https://doi.org/10.2147/nrr.s41956

Ünal, Ö. (2019). The relationship of illness perceptions with demographic features, pain severity, functional capacity, disability, depression, and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain.  Turkish Journal Of Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation ,  65 (4), 301-308. https://doi.org/10.5606/tftrd.2019.3248

 

Prehabilitation in Workers Compensation: Enhancing Function, Reducing Downtime

September 1, 2025
As the global population ages and the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions continues to rise, the demand for orthopaedic surgeries has surged dramatically. With this increase comes a growing emphasis on not just the surgical intervention itself, but also on the preoperative phase as a critical window of opportunity to enhance patient outcomes. One of the most promising strategies emerging in this space is prehabilitation—a proactive, personalized approach to preparing patients physically and mentally for surgery. Prehabilitation can be broadly defined as a personalized exercise program designed to improve physical function and optimize recovery outcomes for any upcoming surgical intervention. In the context of workers compensation, prehabilitation offers additional value. By maintaining or even improving a patient’s physical function prior to surgery, individuals are often able to remain engaged in modified or light-duty work roles. This not only supports their psychological well-being and financial stability but also contributes to faster and more sustainable return-to-work outcomes post-surgery. A recent meta-analysis by Punnoose et al. 2023, found that a targeted prehabilitation program increased muscle strength, improved joint function and led to a higher health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores. These findings were consistent with patients undergoing Total Knee Replacements (TKR), Total Hip Replacements (THR) and lumbar spine surgery. Some clinical applications are listed below: Targeted approach of 4-6 weeks, with 2 sessions per week. This aligns with physiological evidence suggesting that a minimum of 4–6 weeks of strength training is needed for neuromuscular adaptations. Mixture of supervised and unsupervised intervention Multimodal programs (e.g. combining exercise with education or psychological support) may enhance outcomes By improving outcomes and reducing recovery timeframes, prehabilitation stands out as a cost-effective, proactive approach to treatment.  James Chandler Workers Compensation Specialist ‑ Team Leader South (AEP, ESSAM) Exercise Rehabilitation Services – WA

How to Fit Exercise into Your Lifestyle

September 1, 2025
As Exercise Physiologists, a large part of our role is to empower an injured worker to integrate exercise into their lifestyle – something that is easier said than done for everyone! A common misconception about exercise, is that, for an effective workout, it must be a gruelling 1-hour session in a gym or a 10km stomach churning run, however this is not the case! Here are some alternatives and strategies to gradually make positive changes to your life: One easy way is to add movement to tasks you already do. Walking or biking instead of driving short distances, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, holding your newborn as you perform a few quick (and safe!) squats or completing short exercises during TV commercials are simple ways to stay active without setting aside extra time. Another is to schedule ‘mini’ workouts like any other appointment. Set aside just 20 to 30 minutes a few times a week—whether in the morning, during lunch, or in the evening. Utilising exercise equipment that we give you during our initial assessment and picking a handful of exercises that you may particularly enjoy, is a great shorter alternative. Treating these moments as important and ‘you’ time can help build a consistent habit. Exercising with others can make it more fun. Invite a friend for a walk, join a fitness class, or play a sport with family. When you combine social time with physical activity, it feels less like a task and more like enjoyment. The same goes for a sport or hobby that you may like, whether it’s swimming, yoga, hiking or dancing! Experimenting with the introduction of one of these strategies can be an easier first step to making a positive lifestyle change. With a little planning and creativity, exercise can become a natural part of your lifestyle, helping you stay healthy and energized without adding stress to your day. Alexander Gerry Workers Compensation Specialist (AEP, ESSAM) Exercise Rehabilitation Services – WA

The Beauty of a program: Couch to 5k

June 19, 2025
If you have doom scrolled through Instagram/Facebook or YouTube recently you may have been bombarded with advertisements for a slew of different exercise programs. These all usually have something to do with what you value and target you with a preamble on how to get it, how did I shrink my waist size, how do I build muscle or how I rehabbed my knee pain. As an exercise physiologist it's my job to write these programs! Now although I don’t always enjoy interruptions to my news feed of cat videos and rugby highlights, I do actually think a lot of these programmes have merit! I love anything with a bit of structure that can help you progress yourself towards what you care about so today I wanted to write about one of my favourite programs of all time and that is the “Couch to 5km Running Programme” Why Running? I love running as an exercise choice, it gets you outdoors, it has increasing social connections via run clubs/park runs and is completely free! However, it’s hard to jump in to, I see a lot of people getting tripped up by some of the barriers that come with it. A lot of the people I see starting running don’t know about the many choices that come with exercise and in the exercise physiology business we call this the FITT principle! - Frequency – How often are you doing your running? - Intensity – How fast or slow are you running? - Time – How long should I run for? - Type – Why run over biking or rowing? A dedicated programme takes care of these for you, and I think the Couch to 5k programme does a fantastic job of introducing you to all these different ideas. Language! The first thing I love about the “Couch to 5k” is its language. The use of simple and direct language leaves a bit of room for interpretation. You can see clear above on your first Tuesday run you will run for 1 minute and walk for 1 minute. In this small interval that speed is utterly and entirely up to you. Go as slow as you like or as fast as you like however I want you to run for the entire minute! Keeping things simple is so important and this guidance is exactly where I would want you to start off as a beginner runner, have some fun and run! Progression! From week to week the running times can be seen to get bigger and bigger! Slowly but surely these intervals only increase by 1 or 2 minutes at a time. Between each session you will be able to notice small increases, but your fitness catches up with that! The whole point of a programme is that it starts small and works up, no single day itself should feel like an insurmountable workout but by the end you’re able to run a whole 5k! Rest! This program builds in rest days and rest periods so well. Each day is spaced out giving some time for you two recovers but not so much so you can get some fitness in! Within the workouts as well these intervals leave you working for the right amount of time each workout. Goals Too often when working out our goals are too big and lofty. Being able to make big changes start with small actions and goals. You can’t change yourself image in one day so I like the time frame of 6 weeks (in some programmes 6-12 weeks) because by the end we have a set definable goal of what we want to achieve, and we can really feel thar progression of fitness! Mathew Walker Exercise Physiologist Exercise Rehabilitation Services ‑ WA
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