"Depression remains one of the world's leading causes of disability, affecting more than 280 million people globally. Antidepressant medications and psychological therapy are the go-to treatments. But medications can be expensive and lead to side effects, and therapy is not accessible to everyone. Now, an updated systematic review published this month in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews finds exercise is equally effective at reducing symptoms of depression compared to medicine or talk therapy."
"The review, led by researchers at the University of Lancashire and supported by the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Research, analyzed data from 73 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 5,000 adults with depression. The researchers found that exercise is moderately effective at reducing symptoms of depression compared with no treatment. When compared with talk therapy or antidepressant medications, exercise showed similar effects."
Randomized controlled trials involving nearly 5,000 adults show exercise moderately reduces depression symptoms compared with no treatment and matches the effects of psychotherapy and antidepressant medications. Exercise improves serotonin and dopamine neurotransmission and triggers release of brain growth factors that support neural adaptation and change. Light to moderate intensity exercise provides greater benefit than vigorous workouts. Regular, repeated exercise sessions over weeks produce measurable symptom improvement. Starting with small, manageable activities and recruiting friends helps sustain a consistent exercise routine.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]