Been feeling really depressed lately — whether it’s situational or you have no idea why?
Then go for exercise before you seek out a prescription drug to combat your bleak mood.
Consistent workouts can help reduce symptoms of depression about as effectively as mental therapy, according to an updated Cochrane review.
When researchers compared exercise with antidepressant medication, results were similar, though the evidence for medication was less certain.
With depression affecting over 280 million people worldwide, finding accessible, low cost treatment options is very important.
A built-in exercise tool is with you every waking moment: your body. You don’t need a gym.
Inside the Cochrane Review
The review, led by researchers at the University of Lancashire, looked at 73 randomized controlled trials with nearly 5,000 adults diagnosed with depression.
The studies compared exercise to no treatment, psychological therapy and antidepressants.
Overall, exercise led to moderate improvements in depressive symptoms compared to no treatment.
When compared with therapy, exercise produced similar benefits based on moderate-quality evidence.
Results compared with antidepressant drugs also suggested comparable effects, but the evidence was less certain.
Few studies followed participants long-term, so lasting effects remain unclear.
Safety and Side Effects
Exercise was generally safe. Some participants reported minor muscle or joint injuries.
That’s likely due to rushing into levels of exercise with no preceding experience, such as jogging nonstop one day without any prior jogging or even brisk walking habit.
In a sedentary person, exercise needs to be eased into to avoid joint injuries.
Muscle soreness is to be expected, though, when you perform an activity that your body isn’t used to, such as raising small dumbbells overhead for three sets of 15 repetitions when you’ve never done strength training before.
Antidepressants had the typical side effects like fatigue or digestive issues.
Professor Andrew Clegg, lead author of the review, says exercise is a safe, accessible option for managing depression, but it may not work for everyone.
Finding a routine people can stick with is what’s important.
What Kind of Exercise Works Best
Light to moderate intensity activity seemed more helpful than very vigorous workouts.
Most improvements were seen in people completing between 13 and 36 sessions.
No single exercise type stood out as the best, but programs that combined different activities and resistance training tended to work better than aerobic exercise alone.
Long-term benefits are still unclear due to limited follow-up in this study.
Even if exercise doesn’t thin out your depression, you should still stick with it, simply because working out produces tons of health benefits.
