Exercise is a useful method of managing depression but is not a stand-alone treatment. There is research based reviews that support that exercise can reduce the symptoms of depression, and now a recent article by Harvey et. al in the American Journal of Psychiatry has found exercise / activity can prevent future cases of depression.
There are several features of the researcher’s interpretations that are useful. They concluded that exercise intensity was not relevant to the prevented cases of depression. This means that any exercise is better than no exercise. Just going for a walk is one of the simplest and easiest forms of exercise to start with. If you can’t walk due to pain or injury then we would encourage water based exercise or an exercise bike. Even a short walk will release endorphins to begin to make you feel better.
The findings of an 11 year prospective study were that as little as 1 hour of physical activity per week prevented 12% of future cases of depression. So if you are not currently exercising then just being active for 1 hour a week can help with depression. The recommended 30 minutes per day remains an ideal amount of exercise for healthy living (combining physical, cardiovascular and metabolic health) and if you achieve this you are way above the 1 hour per week required for assisting with depression.
The researchers did not find that exercise was not helpful in preventing future cases of anxiety. If you have anxiety or depression use the resources such as websites such as beyond blue and black dog institute and discuss it with your GP.
Click here to read the black dog institute’s fact sheet on exercise and depression.
Harvey et.al (2017). Exercise and the Prevention of Depression: Results of the HUNT Cohort Study: AJP in advance. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16111223,