Exercise Is 1.5x More Effective Than Best Antidepressants
In all, 97 systematic reviews with meta-analyses of controlled trials assessing the effects of exercise on adult depression, anxiety and psychological distress were included (amounting to a total of 1,039 trials involving 128,119 participants).
Populations included healthy adults, people with mental health disorders and people with chronic diseases. It's the most comprehensive review of research to date, and clearly demonstrates that exercise can rapidly alleviate mild to moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety and other forms of psychological distress. As reported by the University of South Australia, which performed the umbrella review:4
"University of South Australia researchers are calling for exercise to be a mainstay approach for managing depression as a new study shows that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than counselling or the leading medications …
[The study] shows that physical activity is extremely beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distress. Specifically, the review showed that exercise interventions that were 12 weeks or shorter were the most effective at reducing mental health symptoms, highlighting the speed at which physical activity can make a change.
The largest benefits were seen among people with depression, pregnant and postpartum women, healthy individuals, and people diagnosed with HIV or kidney disease … Lead UniSA researcher, Dr Ben Singh, says physical activity must be prioritized to better manage the growing cases of mental health conditions.
'Physical activity is known to help improve mental health. Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment. Our review shows that physical activity interventions can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in all clinical populations, with some groups showing even greater signs of improvement.
Higher intensity exercise had greater improvements for depression and anxiety, while longer durations had smaller effects when compared to short and mid-duration bursts.
We also found that all types of physical activity and exercise were beneficial, including aerobic exercise such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and yoga. Importantly, the research shows that it doesn't take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health.'"
- 1 British Journal of Sports Medicine Epub February 16, 2023
- 2 Science Alert March 2, 2023
- 3 New York Post February 24, 2023
- 4 University of South Australia February 24, 2023
- 5 JAMA Psychiatry April 13, 2022; 79(6):550-559
- 6 Cell September 25, 2014: 15-(1); 33-45
- 7 Neuroreport. 2003 Dec 2;14(17):2209-11
- 8 Journal of the American Heart Association September 16, 2014; 3(5): e000802
- 9 JAMA Internal Medicine July 5, 2022; 182(8): 840-848
- 10 Journal of Sport and Health Science January 2023; 12(1): 8-35
- 11 NIH Four Types of Exercise
- 12 Front Physiol. 2019; 10: 446, Discussion: Muscle Strength
- 13 Journal of Clinical Medicine October 2018; 7(10): 337
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