Worriers wanted for study

January 24, 2007

Are you a worrier? Do you constantly "sweat the small stuff" and stress over things you have no control over? Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive worrying. Researchers at the University of New England are seeking people who may suffer from GAD to participate in a study to assess whether exercise can help with their condition.

People thinking of participating in the study should have experienced high levels of anxiety and worry about a range of things over at least the last six months. They need not have actually been diagnosed with GAD, although people who have are still welcome to apply.

Participants in the study will be asked to record their anxiety levels for a week during which they get their usual level of exercise, followed by a week during which they exercise every day. After participants have repeated this regimen for four weeks, researchers will analyse the results to see whether exercise has had any effect on the participants' anxiety levels.

Dr John Malouff, who is coordinating the study with Dr Nicola Schutte and PhD student Sally Rooke, said exercise was known to be an effective treatment for a range of mental health problems, but to date no studies had been conducted to see whether it could help sufferers of GAD.

"Exercise has been studied as a treatment for depression, where it has about the same effect as psychotherapy," Dr Malouff said.

"Exercise releases endorphines and releases muscle tension and depletes excess adrenaline. It could be particularly effective if they do something interesting that focuses their attention on something other than the thing they've been worrying about," he said.

Dr Malouff said activities such as tennis, bike riding and even gardening could all potentially help people with GAD.

"If this treatment does work, that's good news for people with this disorder," he said. "It means there's something they can do to help themselves. If there is evidence that exercise is effective in treating GAD, people might be more inclined to try it."

Anyone interested in participating in the study should contact Sally Rooke on (02) 6773 3742 or by email at srooke@une.edu.au.

Posted by Leon Braun at January 24, 2007 03:37 PM