Regular exercise can both prevent and treat depression

part two in a new series on depression

This is the second in a series I’m doing over the next months on major depressive disorder (MDD). In this and other posts I will explore some of the latest findings regarding what we know about the incidence, diagnosis, hypothesised causes, and treatment of MDD.² Here’s the first post in the series.

TL,DR

Regular exercise has significant, interesting, and important antidepressant effects:

• Exercise can reduce the chances of depression happening in the first place.

• Exercise can be effective as a standard, standalone therapy for depression.

• Combining regular exercise with standard treatments for depression leads to greater symptom relief compared to standard treatment alone, suggesting exercise can be a powerful addition to depression management.

• Contrary to worries, adding regular exercise to treatment plans did not make them less acceptable, highlighting exercise's feasibility and effectiveness as a complementary therapy for depression.

• Exercise as a preventative for depression and exercise as a treatment for depression are two different things (see footnotes for definition of exercise used in the studies below).

  

  Photo by Jonas Jacobsson on Unsplash

Movement and mood

Many will attest that going for a walk boosts mood - making you feel better, quickly. I know it gives me a lift. Are these attestations merely anecdotes, or do they generalise in anyway to the larger population?

In a series of three experiments, researchers investigated the impact of “incidental ambulation” - walking as part of routine activities, rather than as structured exercise - on positive mood (affect). Participants made in person judgements regarding buildings by walking to them, or by viewing slides of them.

They found that (open access version):

• Even though participants were unaware of the purpose behind walking, it fostered positive feelings.

• Walking had a positive influence on mood even in situations of low interest, and it counteracted expectations of mood decline.

• Walking on a treadmill while viewing a video of a campus tour equally had positive effects on mood.

Overall, walking promoted positive mood in participants, even though the walking during the various tasks was seemingly incidental to the main task (making aesthetic judgements). Movement seems to also override the impact of other emotionally charged events, like boredom. Thus, there may well be some important connection between movement and emotional well-being.

I discuss in detail many of these studies here.

Other relevant BrainPizza pieces:

• Life expectancy under strain - the silent epidemic: Navigating mental health challenges across the lifecourse (part one)

• Brain scans reveal critical periods for vulnerability: Navigating mental health challenges across the lifecourse (part two)

• Aerobic exercise is good for the brain: mood, memory, education; five easy wins for behaviour change

• Only disconnect: The pain of 'just thinking': 'Don’t Just Do Something; Stand There'

• How fear and pain rewire the brain, and what might be done about it: Post-traumatic stress disorder, fear, and painful memories

• Stress, work, and personality: 'Living with uncertainty about important matters'

• Regarding distress, and the biological roots of empathy

Salience Network: Obeying Orders -When commanded to do a bad thing, what would you do?

Exercise for the prevention of depression

Data like the foregoing are suggestive of a relationship between mood and movement - but that is all. We need to know much more, and, happily, we do.