Cycling to Work is linked to Better Mental Health

I think cyclists already know there's nothing like clearing your head than an hour or so on a bike, but it's been confirmed in a 380,000 people research study; 'people who cycle to work are less likley to be prescribed drugs for anxiety / depression than those who commute using different forms of transport.'  

The study was carried out by the University of Edinburgh and concludes that commuting by bike reduces the risk of mental ill-health.  Previous research suggests cycling to work provides a benefit for mental wellbeing, but this new study combines huge numbers of people (378,325) covering an age range from 16 to 74 from the 2011 Scottish census and tracks NHS prescription records for the following 5 years.  Those included in the study lived and worked in Edinburgh or Glasgow, stayed within a mile of a cycle path and tracked prescriptions related to mental ill-health at the start of the study. Researchers gleaned that prescriptions for anxiety / depression fell 15% amongst cycle commuters in the five years following, compared to none cyclists.  The study also found that commuting by bike led to greater reductions in mental health prescriptions in women, than in men.

This article was drawn from the Association of Cycle Traders news & strengthens the need for investment in infrastructure to encourage more people to commute by bike. I know I've spent many an hour putting the world to rights with my cycling companions and I can see in my local area that safe cycle ways need to be created, in order to encourage more people to move around by bike.