Should Exercise Be Prescribed for Depression?
Something is better than nothing. When it comes to exercise and depression, that is good news indeed. The largest study to date of exercise as “medicine” for depression found that exercise was as effective as psychotherapy and medication for severe depression, according to The Washington Post.
The study, which examined data from 41 studies involving 2,265 people with depression, found that any type of exercise significantly reduces the symptoms of depression, although some forms of exercise are better than others.
“We found large, significant results,” said Andreas Heissel, lead study author and exercise scientist at the University of Potsdam in Germany. So encouraging were the findings that he hopes exercise may be prescribed to treat those struggling with depression.
Doing so would represent a significant shift in treatment from current norms. The American Psychological Association’s 2019 clinical practice guidelines recommend psychotherapy and antidepressants for the treatment of depression, but exercise is not mentioned. The World Health Organization, on the other hand, promotes exercise for mental health but only as a supplemental recommendation, not as a sole therapeutic treatment.
The study’s authors believe that should change. “We expect this review to lead to updated guidelines and recommendations for exercise as a first-line treatment option,” Heissel said.
The research behind exercise and depression
Research has already established that exercise can help ward off depression, as large-scale epidemiological studies have shown that those who are active – even a few minutes a day or a few days per week – develop depression symptoms at much lower rates than those with a sedentary lifestyle.
But is exercise suitable as the first – or only – treatment for depression? The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, pooled data from 41 studies, the largest sample yet to examine the question. Participants exercised in a variety of ways – from walking to jogging to fitness classes to weight training.
The findings showed that any form of exercise improved depression symptoms by five to 6.5 points, nearly twice the 3-point improvement deemed clinically meaningful. What does this mean in real life? One out of every two people with depression who start exercising, should experience “a large-magnitude reduction in depressive symptoms,” Heissel said.
These results are “somewhat better” than those achieved by therapy and medication alone, according to senior author of the study Felipe Schuch, a professor researching exercise and mental health at the University of Santa Maria in Brazil and senior author of the study.
Other experts, like Murray Stein, a professor and vice chair for clinical research in the department of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, are less convinced by the evidence that exercise can be a stand-alone treatment. “I think that exercise should be prescribed for everyone with depression,” he stressed, but “I still feel the evidence is weak, though, that exercise be considered a first-line treatment for depression.”
How to get moving when you’re depressed
Whether or not it is prescribed as an additional or the sole therapeutic intervention, everyone agrees that exercise helps. “Exercise has so many health benefits that it should be prescribed for virtually anything that ails humankind,” Stein said.
The challenge, of course, is how to get up and moving when you are suffering from severe depression, as major symptoms include tiredness, lack of energy, and losing interest even in things you formerly enjoyed. The good news is that anything – walking, getting outdoors, movement of any kind, even gardening – helps. It is absolutely beneficial to start small and to try activities on for size. “The best exercise is the one that is actually done,” Heissel said, “and that means exercise that is rewarding or pleasant.”
Read the full article here.
Learn more about clinical depression and its symptoms.
Or read the study itself.
Reynolds, Gretchen. “The best treatment for depression? It could be exercise.” The Washington Post, 15 Mar 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/03/15/exercise-depression-benefits/.
Photo by Jozsef Hocza on Unsplash