The acceptability of lifestyle medicine for the treatment of mental illness: perspectives of people with and without lived experience of mental illness

While lifestyle medicine can be highly effective for treating a range of mental illnesses these approaches are grossly underutilised and have not been systematically implemented into health care systems. Understanding the acceptability of lifestyle medicine is a critical first step to remediate this. This study evaluated the acceptability of lifestyle medicine relative to pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, and explore perspectives of people with and without lived experience of mental illness.

Six hundred and forty-nine adult Australian residents (62.6% female; 53.6% with a lifetime diagnosis of mental illness) completed an online survey based on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability assessing the acceptability of lifestyle medicine, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for treating mental illness.

Most participants felt positive about lifestyle medicine (76.9%) and felt that such approaches aligned with their personal values (74.9%). They understood how lifestyle medicine worked (86.4%) and believed it would be effective (69.6%). Lived experience of mental illness was associated with greater perceived burden and lower self-efficacy to engage in lifestyle medicine activities (both p < 0.001). While there was a clear preference for psychotherapy and lifestyle medicine over pharmacotherapy, pharmacotherapy was perceived as least effortful (p < .001) and participants were least confident in their ability to engage in lifestyle medicine (p < 0.05).

The findings indicate strong acceptability of lifestyle medicine for mental illness, a preference for non-pharmacological treatment approaches, and an understanding of the challenges associated with making long-term healthy lifestyle modifications amongst people who have lived experience of mental illness.