The idea that exercise can help depression is appealing for several reasons. You may feel you'd rather beat depression without taking pills, or that treating depression with exercise is more natural. Exercise has other benefits besides improving your emotional state; it helps to lower blood pressure, protects against heart disease and cancer and reduces the effects of stress on your body. It has the added benefit of increasing self-esteem.
Expert Insight
According to Harvard Health Publications, studies as far back as 1981 show that exercise can improve mild to moderate depression. However, a review of medical studies reported in the October 2010 "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry" concluded that while there appears to be a short-term improvement of depression from exercise, there is no evidence that exercise benefits clinically depressed individuals over the long-term. Despite this ongoing debate, medical practitioners continue to recommend exercise for patients with clinical depression.
Effects
Single sessions of aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety for several hours afterward, according to the University of California at Santa Cruz, and regular aerobic exercise can reduce the amount of anxiety you feel on a daily level, even if there are no changes in your physical health with exercise. The same report also says that regular mild to moderately intense exercise improves mood in people diagnosed with mild to moderate clinical depression.
Benefits
Regular exercise can help prevent a relapse into depression. Exercise changes chemicals in the brain, increasing levels of endorphins and decreasing the level of cortisol which is a stress hormone. It also seems to reduce the anxiety, anger and fatigue that can accompany depression, according to a student guide to depression produced by the Case Western Reserve University.
Types
According to the September 2010 "The Journal of Family Practice," resistance exercise or a combination of resistance and aerobic exercise reduce symptoms of depression more than aerobic exercise alone. The same review reports that meditative exercises such as tai chi, qi gong or yoga also improve depression.
Recommendations
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK recommends structured, supervised exercise programs three times a week for 45 to 60 minutes each session over 10 to 14 weeks to treat mild depression, as exercise seems to be more effective in a group setting with an instructor.
References
- Harvard Health Publications: Exercise and Depression
- "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry": The Effect of Exercise in Clinically Depressed Adults; J Krogh, et al.; Oct. 19.2010
- University of California Santa Cruz: Exercise for Enhanced Mood and Well-Being
- Case Western Reserve University: Depression--A Very Real Illness
- "The Journal of Family Practice": Does Exercise Alleviate Symptoms of Depression?;A Gill, et al. ; Sept.2010
- The NICE Guideline on the Treatment and Management of Depression in Adults, page 215.
