A major study by academics in Australia and published in the British Medical Journal, shows that exercise may be better than anti-depressants to treat depression.
They drew their conclusions from 218 clinical trials involving 14,000 people in multiple countries. The more vigorous the exercise the better, but ‘even low intensity exercise such as walking has meaningful benefits’.
They urged that exercise should be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as core treatments for depression and add that social interaction may be as important as the physiological effects of exercise.
In severe forms of depression however, Professor Bloomfield, consultant psychiatrist at University College, London, warned that simply offering exercise may not be helpful when someone is struggling to get out of bed, let alone get to the gym!
