A CHARITY has enlisted the help of Scottish actor Brian Cox to highlight issues on mental health.
It comes ahead of World Mental Health Day, with the Succession actor taking on the role of playing the world’s scariest boss for running charity ASICS.
The charity’s State of Mind study, involving 26,000 participants, revealed a strong connection between sedentary behaviour and mental wellbeing with State of Mind scores declining the longer individuals remain inactive.
The charity pointed to the “desk break experiment” overseen by Dr Brendon Stubbs from King’s College London which found when office workers add just 15 minutes of movement into their working day, their mental state improved by 22.5% with State of Mind scores increasing from 62/100 to 76/100.
In a new public service announcement, available on YouTube, Succession star and Yes campaigner Cox calls on office workers to put their mental health first by taking a desk break, or short movement break, during working hours.
The actor commented: “I’ve played some pretty intimidating characters in my time but who would have thought a desk could be scarier?
"It’s great to see ASICS try and do something about this and encourage people to support their mental health through exercise. As I say in the film, run, jump, roller-skate. I don’t care. Just move for your mind.”
ASICS UK is encouraging its own office-based employees to get away from their desks and move their minds by introducing a clause which grants people a daily break to move for their mental wellbeing.
Gary Raucher of ASICS said: “In the lead up to World Mental Health Day, we wanted to deliver a strong message that will get people moving for their minds.
"As we can see in Brian’s powerful delivery, the world’s scariest boss is terrifying, but it turns out he’s not the deadliest thing in the office.
“The hours we spend at our desks are having a real and scary impact on our minds. And it needs to change.
"At ASICS we champion the power of movement, not just on the body, but also on the mind. It’s why we’re called ASICS – an acronym for the Latin ‘Anima Sana in Corpore Sano’ or ‘Sound Mind in a Sound Body’.
"We’re proud to be turning that purpose into action and encouraging not only our employees but the rest of the world to move their minds.”
