Why Your Brain Loves a Standing Desk
You may already know all the physical benefits of using a standing desk—how standing up can improve blood glucose, reduce lower back pain, and help reduce the risk of heart disease. Standing while you work, even if it's only for a few hours a day, will boost your physical health—but did you know about the mental health benefits of a standing desk?
If you've ever wondered if having an adjustable height desk or standing desk can make a noticeable impact on your mental health, we're here to share with you exactly why scientists say standing desks are as good for your brain as they are your body.
Improving Mood and Anxiety
Sitting for long durations can cause stress, lowered mood, and anxiety. Your posture and position while sitting can also affect your mental health. The results from a 2012 Australian survey(1) noted that time spent while using a computer was associated with more severe depression and anxiety. Limiting your time seated at a computer could be a worthwhile strategy to help improve mental health.
Later, another study published in ScienceDaily in 2021(2) researched the connection between sitting longer being linked to increased feelings of depression and anxiety. With COVID-19 isolation, employers and employees having to work from home or those adapting to simply being home more often, it's understandable that many of us became more sedentary. Meyer and a team surveyed responses from more than 3,000 study participants across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Participants reported how much time they spent sitting, time looking at screens, and how much time they gave to exercising.
Researchers used standard clinical scales to help participants indicate mental well-being changes such as depression, anxiety, feeling stressed, and loneliness. The study showed that the participants before COVID who were meeting the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines of 2.5 to 5.5 hours of moderate to vigorous activity per week found their activity decreased as far as up to 35% during the pandemic. Those same participants reported feeling more depressed, anxious, and lonely.
In a follow-up study, those who adjusted to the new way of life during COVID and returned to their physical activity over eight weeks found their moods and anxiety improving, while those who continued to spend a large portion of their time sitting found their depressive symptoms remain without improvement.
Adding a standing desk to your home office or work office is a great idea to mix up positions, improve posture, and help you better your mental health.
Improvement of Productivity and Processing
Science believes there's not only a strong correlation between standing and improving your mood, but standing and boosted brainpower as well. Studies linking standing and productivity conducted by Texas A&M collected information between six months in 2013 and 2014. The study monitored 167 employees in a Texan call center and found that the employees using stand-up desks or stand-up capable desks were more productive than their colleagues in standard, seated desks. On top of that, the productivity of employees using stand-capable desks continued to increase over time.
Another study published in 2021(3) was conducted in Japan, where standing while at work was not yet commonplace. The study assessed the relationship between the introduction of a stand-up desk and its ability to reduce the adverse effects of sitting too long and how it increases employees' general health and productivity. Seventy-four Japanese desk workers participated in this three-month intervention study.
The results showed that participants over the three-month study found that neck and shoulder pain had all significantly decreased. Their scores of subjective health, vitality in work-related engagement, and self-rated work improvement also increased considerably.
When you're standing, you're less relaxed and more aware of your balance while engaging more of your muscles. This often gives you a slight mental edge – not enough stress to be overwhelming, but just enough to cut through complacency. This also will help sharpen your focus, which could lead to:
• Better memory. Sitting for too long may result in the thinning of the medial temporal lobe, which is the part of your brain responsible for memory. So it's essential to remain as physically active as you are able now. A standing desk or sit-stand desk can increase the amount of movement you receive daily, which helps protect your memory.
• When standing and moving, your blood circulates more efficiently. This means more oxygen is being pumped into your brain, helping your brain perform correctly and increasing concentration.
• Possible boost to collaboration. Scientists are studying the connection between standing desks and how they may benefit collaboration and better interactions within a working environment. They believe standing desks may facilitate better open communication, free flow of ideas, and less tension among team members.
• Improved confidence. Sitting too long, especially in an incorrect posture, can lead to slouching. When we begin working more standing and ergonomic standing desks, chairs, and options into our lives, it automatically leads to a better, more improved posture. When we have a better stance, we feel the positive effects, and over time it helps boost our confidence.
The benefits of a stand-up desk go beyond the physical and well into the psychological and beyond. When it comes to your body, having the right balance of sitting to standing is crucial for your physical health and mental health!
If you're ready to reap the benefits for yourself, we're prepared to help. With the largest selection of stand-up desks, accessories, dividers, and more, we can help transform your home or work office into a space healthier and better for you or your employees. Choose from different materials, desk sizes, desktop colors, price ranges, and more to ensure you find the perfect desk for your needs.
Do your mind and spine a favor and implement a standing desk to energize your body and brain.
1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755296614000088
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211108114830.htm
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8582919/