We already know that exercise can improve mood and offer a host of health benefits, but now a new study confirms its value as a serious treatment option for depression as well.
The document, recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicinelooked at the data from 41 articles that monitored 2,264 people with depression to see how exercise would affect their symptoms. The researchers found that the effects of exercise on depression were substantial enough to be proposed as an “evidence-based therapeutic option” to treat the disease. “We found large and significant results,” said al Washington Post Andreas Heissel, a researcher at the University of Potsdam in Germany and lead author of the study. “We expect this review to result in updated guidelines and recommendations for exercise as a first-line treatment option.”
View more
Currently, World Health Organization guidelines state that exercise can be added to treatments such as therapy and medication. But Felipe Schuch, a professor at the University of Santa Maria in Brazil and senior author of the study, explained that the data collected show «better results” compared to currently prescribed treatments for depression, such as medicine and psychotherapy.
The study of British Journal of Sports Medicine era a meta-analysis, which means that it has gathered data from many other studies to draw more robust conclusions about the effects of exercise on depression, drawing on various patient groups from various countries. The researchers stated that their findings were the largest study to date on the effects of exercise on depression and depressive symptoms.
However, the scientists added that more research is needed to consider exercise a “front-line treatment” for depression, recommended on a par with psychotherapy and medications, rather than just the add-on treatment thought of today.
Scholarly opinion, from institutions such as the University of Potsdam in Germany, Santa Maria University in Brazil and the University of Manchester in England, said future studies should further examine whether exercise is effective as a long-term therapy and may not be suitable for some groups. The studies they looked at included participants who were willing and motivated to exercise and excluded people for whom exercise may pose a risk due to existing health problems. Furthermore, as the researchers themselves specified, not everyone has access to quality training.
The most effective exercises on symptoms
The studies the researchers reviewed included various types of exercise, from walking to weight training. In any case, the result did not change: working out helped improve symptoms, as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and from Beck Depression Inventorytwo standard tests that measure the severity of depressive symptoms in patients.
However, some workouts in particular stood out as particularly effective. L’aerobic exercise and theresistance training they have had great effects on reducing the symptoms of depressionnoted the authors, as well as the supervised and group exercises of «moderate intensity».
A 2021 study conducted by researchers at the University of Gothenburg highlighted that any type of consistent exercise has benefits for conditions like depression and anxiety. A 2018 study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that theweight training can help treat depression as well asaerobic exercise.
The authors of the recent paper therefore said that their analysis offers evidence of exercise as a possible treatment option for the large number of patients suffering from depression, especially those who cannot use medication or psychotherapy as treatments. He further added that updated guidelines for depression treatments and routine clinical settings should take these findings into consideration.
More stories from Vanity Fair that may interest you
6 signs you’re depressed but ignoring it
Training 30 minutes a day strengthens the intestinal microbiota
Longevity? Let’s play early