Brainport region promotes cycling to promote mental health

EINDHOVEN – Mental health is particularly poor among younger generations a hot topic and in the Brainport region they come up with a striking (simple) advice: ride your bike more often to keep your mind fresh.

Recent studies once again show the urgency: as many as 85 percent of Dutch people between the ages of 18 and 34 suffer from psychological complaints such as stress, insecurity, fear of failure or depressive feelings. A negative trend in our society that the Brainport Bereikbaar mobility program cleverly responds to. Cycling improves brain function, regulates heart rate and breathing and provides immediate mental benefits. A daily bike ride has been proven to be effective.

Brainport Bereikbaar's ambition is to keep regional residents out of the car more often and will now promote the bicycle as the most accessible coach to maintain mental health. At the beginning of June - during Mental Health Week - a regional campaign will start in which the bicycle is presented as a metal coach. A coach that can be found in almost every shed and is everything you need to stay fit and fresh. A nod to the growing range of all kinds of coaching, but with a serious message. An earlier pilot in the region already showed that residents actually see mental health as a trigger to get on their bike more often.

Juul Franssen (Brainport Accessible): “We can take our bikes even more often, the potential of rides within cycling distance is - especially with the rise of the e-bike - enormous. With this campaign we draw the attention of regional residents to the positive aspects effects of cycling, in a relativizing tone that suits Brabant mentality."