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Exercise Should Be Considered A “Core” Treatment For Depression, Study Shows

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – While many people respond well to medication for depression, researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia have published a new report advocating that exercise should be considered a “core” alternative or complementary treatment” for the disorder. The study is titled ‘Effect of Exercise for Depression’ and appears in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Led by study author Dr. Michael Noetel, senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, a team of researchers analyzed the results of 218 previous studies into the impact of exercise in managing depression to compile the report.

“Exercise is an effective treatment for depression, with walking or jogging, yoga, and strength training more effective than other exercises, particularly when intense,” the report asserts. “Exercise appeared equally effective for people with and without comorbidities and with different baseline levels of depression,” the report said.

Concluding that “yoga and strength training were well tolerated compared with other treatments,” the report recommends that “these forms of exercise could be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as core treatments for depression.” At the same time, the report asserts that walking, jogging, mixed aerobic exercise, tai chi, and qigong are also effective in helping depression.

“Our findings suggest that practitioners could advocate for most patients to engage in exercise,” the report authors wrote. “Those patients may benefit from guidance on intensity (ie, vigorous) and types of exercise that appear to work well and be well tolerated…Health services may consider offering these programs as an alternative or adjuvant treatment for major depression.”

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