Exercise has been found to be as good as therapy and potentially even common drugs
Exercise may be just as good at treating depression as psychological therapies and possibly even antidepressants, a study suggests. A review of 73 studies from researchers at the University of Lancashire found exercise may have a moderate benefit on reducing symptoms of depression when compared with no treatment or a placebo.
Exercise was also just as beneficial as psychological therapies, based on evidence from 10 clinical trials. It was also comparable to antidepressants, though researchers warned this evidence was limited and of low certainty.
Any long-term benefits were also unclear as most studies only followed people up for the duration of the treatment in the study. Professor Andrew Clegg, lead author of the Cochrane review, said: “Our findings suggest that exercise appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression.
“This suggests that exercise works well for some people, but not for everyone, and finding approaches that individuals are willing and able to maintain is important.”
The review found that light to moderate intensity exercise may be better in tackling depression than vigorous exercise. People also saw the best results when they completed between 13 and 36 exercise sessions. Those who mixed up weights and resistance training with aerobic exercise also seemed to fare better than those who just did aerobic exercise such as running or cycling.
Some forms of exercise, such as yoga, qigong and stretching, were not included in the analysis. Examples of moderate activity can include very brisk walking (4mph or faster), heavy cleaning such as washing windows or mopping, cycling at 10mph-12mph, or badminton.
Vigorous activity includes hiking, jogging at 6mph or faster, shovelling, fast cycling, basketball or tennis. Dr Jeff Lambert, associate professor in health psychology from the University of Bath welcomed the study but said its findings were limited by the quality of the trials it includes.
“Many of the exercise studies were small and had methodological weaknesses, and when the analysis is restricted to the most robust trials, the apparent benefit of exercise for depression becomes smaller, although still statistically significant. There is some evidence suggesting that exercise may be no less effective than psychological therapy or antidepressant medication, but this conclusion is based on a small number of studies and therefore comes with considerable uncertainty.
“The review also cannot tell us confidently whether exercise works better for more or less severe depression, whether effectiveness varies by exercise type, or whether people should switch from medication or therapy to exercise alone.
“It is also important to note that this review mainly focused on structured, often supervised exercise programmes, which tend to attract motivated volunteers who are willing and able to take part. This limits how well the findings apply to the wider population of people with depression.”
