Physical activity in the treatment of mental disorders

The authors give a short description of changes in psychiatric treatment with regard to activation, and point out that there is still neglect of the area of physical activation. They also point out that the patient clientele differs from a normal population in that its physical work capacity is low. Experience and some studies have shown that physical activity have positive effects on treatment but there is very little certainty about the research results available. The authors believe that physical activity could be used more systematically as a part of treatment, and present an example of this. In the modern Norwegian psychiatric hospital this is prevented by a number of practical prerequisites which cannot be fulfilled. In general, there is a lack of major research work in this area; in addition more work is needed on the theme "how does one get the psychiatric patient to become physically active?"