can massage improve mental health?

Massage therapy can help with many mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and stress. Research has also shown that massage can help people coping with seasonal affective disorder by improving mood and increasing energy levels.

It treats age-related aches and pains, manages chronic pain, reduces pain, improves mood, promotes relaxation and improves sleep.

It also relieves stress, pain and muscle tension. Researchers have found that massage releases endorphins (the body's natural painkillers). It also reduces heart rate and may affect the immune system.

Researchers found that regular massage promotes relaxation and stability, and even reduces the effects of dementia, hypertension and osteoarthritis.

Massage is often unfairly regarded as a luxury practice reserved for the indulgent, privileged and wealthy. It is largely ignored by the medical profession, except occasionally as part of physiotherapy for musculoskeletal problems. This is very unfortunate, as massage has many potential mental health benefits that are beginning to be better understood.

For example, massage appears to affect brain activity in ways that improve relaxation while maintaining arousal levels. It has also been suggested that somatosensory pleasure circuits in the brain may also be involved.

Massage also appears to have a positive effect on the hormone oxytocin.

In addition, several studies suggest that massage can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. It may also improve sleep, a known symptom of many mental disorders.

Given all the research supporting the positive impact of massage and its many advantages when compared to other standard mental health treatments, efforts such as this should be undertaken as soon as possible, so that more people can benefit from what massage has to offer and how to maximise its effects should be undertaken with haste so that a better understanding can be gained.