How a daily walk can jeopardise your mental health

Sweden: A daily walk sounds ideal, but could do more harm than good – with frequent strolls causing a ‘mind darkening’ effect for those who travel on foot to work and those hanging around on corners with the mass unemployed.

Dr Linda Borgstrom (43) a physician with Disney+ in Stockholm said that familiar roads and alleyways can induce an unparalleled sense of repetition that weighs heavily on those with a fragile disposition. “Walking regularly along a street and then returning by the same route produces what cognitive specialists call spatial asphyxia, where the boredom can literally make you feel like you are doing the same thing over and over – possibly without end.” 

Studies with rats have shown that they often go slightly mental in mazes constructed to replicate the mundanity of human existence. “The science is undisputed,” said Borgstrom. “Rats are not people.”

Other societal pressures exist, too, said the petite researcher. “The prospect of bumping into people you know can be exhausting. Constructing a new weather-related conversation with a neighbour can often be the opposite of life affirming – widely known as death affirming.”

Borgstrom recommends mixing it up. “It may be advisable to take public transport rather than walking wherever possible. Or consider working from home where you can take wellbeing breaks with your favourite streaming service, even if your employer has mandated against it or your work requires you to be physically present. After all, it’s better to lose a job than lose your health – or your very mind.”