Sitting Down Associated With An Increase in Anxiety

by Monica Joshi

As a species, we've evolved to sit on our behinds too much. Whether it's watching TV, eating, working on the computer, or just sitting down for a couple of drinks with friends, we seem to love the cushion that is our behind. While we may enjoy, take pride in, or even love this cushion, low-energy activities that involve sitting down are associated with an increased risk of anxiety, according to research published in the open-access journal BMC Public Health.

Understanding these activities, known as sedentary behaviours, and how they are linked to anxiety, could help to develop strategies to deal with this mental health problem. Many earlier studies have shown that sedentary behaviour is associated with physical health problems like obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.

This, however, is the first systematic review of its kind to reveal the link between sedentary behaviour and mental health.

Anxiety Disorder affects more than 27 million people worldwide. It is a debilitating illness that can result in people worrying excessively and can prevent people from carrying out their daily lives. It can also result in a range of physical symptoms including pounding heartbeat, difficulty breathing, tense muscles, and headaches.

Megan Teychenne, lead researcher and lecturer at Deakin University's Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (C-PAN) in Australia, said that:

"Anecdotally — we are seeing an increase in anxiety symptoms in our modern society, which seems to parallel the increase in sedentary behavior. Thus, we were interested to see whether these two factors were in fact linked. Also, since research has shown positive associations between sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms, this was another foundation for further investigating the link between sedentary behavior and anxiety symptoms."

C-PAN researchers analyzed the results of nine studies that specifically examined the association between sedentary behaviour and anxiety. The studies were different in terms of what sedentary behaviours they studied. Some studied sedentary behaviours such as television viewing and computer use, while others studied total sitting time, which included sitting while watching television, sitting while on transport, and work-related sitting. Two out of the nine studies involved children/adolescents, while the remaining seven included adults.

It was found in five of the nine studies that an increase in sedentary behaviour was associated with an increased risk of anxiety. In four of the studies it was found that total sitting time was associated with an increased risk of anxiety. The evidence regarding screen time (TV and computer use) was less strong, but one study did find that 36 percent of high school students that had more than two hours of screen time per day were more likely to experience anxiety, compared to those who had less than two hours per day.

The C-PAN team suggests that the link between sedentary behaviour and anxiety could be due to disturbances in sleep patterns, social withdrawal theory, and poor metabolic health. Social withdrawal theory claims that prolonged sedentary behaviour, such as television viewing, can lead to withdrawal from social relationships. Withdrawal from social relationships, furthermore, has been linked to increased anxiety.

"It is important that we understand the behavioral factors that may be linked to anxiety — in order to be able to develop evidence-based strategies in preventing/managing this illness. Our research showed that evidence is available to suggest a positive association between sitting time and anxiety symptoms — however, the direction of this relationship still needs to be determined through longitudinal and interventional studies."

As most of the studies included in this systematic review were cross-sectional, it is necessary for there to be more follow-up studies that can confirm whether or not anxiety is caused by sedentary behaviour.

However, according to Dennis Charney from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, your brain is designed to beat depression and anxiety. All that it needs is some training.