Spending hours at our desks can be a danger to our mental health.
So ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, multinational sportswear brand ASICS has enlisted Brian Cox to play the role of the ‘World’s Scariest Boss’ in a Public Service Announcement for office workers.
ASICS’ commitment to the interconnection of mental and physical health goes right back to their Japanese roots. The name ASICS is an acronym for the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano (translated by ASICS as “a sound mind, in a sound body”).
State of Mind research
ASICS’ global 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. Further research into desk-based working found that after just two hours of continuous desk work State of Mind scores begin to drop and stress levels rise. After four hours of uninterrupted desk time, workers’ stress levels increased significantly by 18%. However, a new Desk Break experiment shows that just 15 minutes of movement can help to reverse the effects.
The Desk Break experiment, overseen by Dr Brendon Stubbs from King’s College London, found that when office workers added just 15 minutes of movement into their working day, their mental state improved by 22.5% with participants’ overall State of Mind scores increasing from 62/100 to 76/100.
The experiment showed that taking a daily Desk Break for just one week lowered stress levels by 14.7%, boosted productivity by 33.2% and improved focus by 28.6%. Participants reported feeling 33.3% more relaxed and 28.6% more calm and resilient.
Notably, an astonishing 79.2% of participants said they would be more loyal to their employers if offered regular movement breaks.
In the PSA, Brian Cox calls on office workers to put their mental health first by taking a Desk Break – a short movement break – during the working day.
Gary Raucher, EVP ASICS EMEA, said: “We hope to encourage office workers around the world to move and feel the mental benefits. We look forward to seeing the empty desk images on World Mental Health Day.”
It’s a great way to convey a clear message with humour and definitely worth sharing with colleagues. See what you think…
