Exercise & Depression
Linking Depression and Exercise
“the present findings suggest that a modest exercise program (eg, three times per week with 30 minutes at 70% of maximum heart rate reserve each time) is an effective, robust treatment for patients with major depression who are positively inclined to participate in it and that clinical benefits are particularly likely to endure among patients who adopt exercise as a regular, ongoing life activity. Exercise is a feasible therapy for patients suffering from MDD and may be at least as effective as standard pharmacotherapy.”
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“full remission at the end of the 4-month treatment period, participants in the exercise group were less likely to relapse than participants in the two groups receiving medication”
“exercise with medication conferred no additional advantage over either treatment alone”
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“participants in the exercise group were more likely than those in the medication group to be partially or fully recovered at the 6-month follow-up visit. In contrast, patients receiving combination therapy were no more likely to be categorized as partially or fully recovered than were patients in the medication group. In addition, only 8% of remitted patients in the exercise group had relapsed, compared with 38% in the medication group and 31% in the combination group”
“it was found that participants in the exercise group exhibited lower rates of depression (30%) than participants in the medication (52%) and combined groups (55%)”
What Is Depression?
"Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act."
"Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home."
Symptoms
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Loss of appetite or weight loss​
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Difficulty concentrating
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Irritability
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Decreased energy or fatigue
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Feeling of hopelessness
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Difficulty sleeping, waking up early in the morning, or oversleeping
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Loss of interest or enjoyment in hobbies and activities
Some Statistics​​
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In 2009–2012, 7.6% of Americans aged 12 and over had depression
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Females had higher rates of depression than males in every age group
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Approximately 3% of all Americans aged 12 and over had severe depressive symptoms, while almost 78% had no depressive symptoms.
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Non-Hispanic black persons and Hispanic persons had higher rates of mild and moderate depressive symptoms than non-Hispanic white persons
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The rate of depression increased by age, from 5.7% among youth aged 12–17 to 9.8% among adults aged 40–59, but adults aged 60 and over had a significantly lower rate of depression (5.4%) than those aged 18–39 and 40–59
Exercise
The recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week
It is more beneficial to do 300 minutes of moderate or 150 minutes vigorous exercise a week
Moderate exercise is classified when you can talk but you cannot sing
Vigorous exercise is where you cannot sing nor talk
Different Exercises