By Stephen Beech
Exercise is just as effective for beating the blues as therapy, according to new research.
Working out may reduce symptoms of depression to a similar extent as psychological therapy, suggests the study.
When compared with antidepressant medication, experts found that exercise also showed a similar effect.
Depression is a leading cause of ill health, affecting an estimated 280 million people worldwide.
A review, conducted by researchers from the University of Lancashire, examined 73 trials including more than 4,500 adults with depression.
The studies compared exercise with no treatment or control interventions, as well as with psychological therapies and antidepressant medications.
The results, published in the journal Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, showed that exercising can have a moderate benefit on reducing depressive symptoms, compared with no treatment or a control intervention.
When compared with psychological therapy, exercise had a similar effect on symptoms of depression, based on “moderate-certainty” evidence from 10 trials.
Comparisons with antidepressant medication also suggested a similar effect, but the review team said evidence is limited and of low certainty.
Long-term effects are unclear as few studies followed participants after treatment.
Side effects were rare, including occasional musculoskeletal injuries for those exercising and typical medication-related effects for those taking antidepressants, such as fatigue and gastrointestinal problems.
Review lead author Professor Andrew Clegg said: “Our findings suggest that exercise appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression.
“This suggests that exercise works well for some people, but not for everyone, and finding approaches that individuals are willing and able to maintain is important.”
The review found that light to moderate intensity exercise may be more beneficial than vigorous exercise, and that completing between 13 and 36 exercise sessions was associated with greater improvements in depressive symptoms.
No single type of exercise was clearly superior, although mixed exercise programs and resistance training appeared more effective than aerobic exercise alone.
Some forms of exercise – including yoga and stretching – weren’t included in the analysis.
But Clegg said: “Exercise can help people with depression, but if we want to find which types work best, for who and whether the benefits last over time, we still need larger, high-quality studies.”
He added: “One large, well-conducted trial is much better than numerous poor quality small trials with limited numbers of participants in each.”
