Regular exercise may help ease depression by releasing endorphins, natural cannabis-like brain chemicals and other natural brain chemicals that can enhance your sense of well-being. Most authorities believe there are biochemical changes in the brain and other nerve tissues of the body when physical activity takes place. These biochemical changes help move the individual out of depression and toward a more normal functional state.
Some physician believe that physical activity provides depressed individuals the satisfaction of mastering a task they perceive as being difficult. Through exercise they can meet a goal and accomplish something. Thus, they recognize their ability to change themselves for the better. The depression is also relieved through their improved physical health, appearance, and body image.
The role physical activity plays in the treatment of depression really may be very simple. Walking, running, bicycling, or other similar activities may serve to stimulate daydreaming and unconscious mind release. The mind is allowed to “spin” and relax, blue moods leave, and anxiety and anger melt away during the solitude provided. The freedom and renewed capacity to think creatively during this time greatly relieves individuals who are depressed.
In fact, the environment in which such activities take place may be an important part of the healing process. The smell, touch, and feel of the outdoors provide distractions which prevent you from concentrating on your problems. You become more aware of the self and the environment than at any other time.
What does the Research Say about Exercise as a Treatment?
Dr. Robert Brown, University of Virginia, has studied changes in blood and urine specimens to find a relationship between physical activity and depression. According to Brown, depressed individuals experience an anti-depressant factor at about two hours after they complete their exercise.
Dr.Thaddeus Kostrubala, psychiatrist and author of The Joy of Running, is another medical doctor who believed on the value of physical activity for the treatment of depression. He believes that there is a distinct physiological or neurochemical basis to the effect physical exercise has on the mind. According to Kostrubala, running stimulates the unconscious and is a powerful catalyst to the individual psyche.
Dr. Marjorie H. Klein, University of Wisconsin, also believes that exercise such as running may well be an antagonist to depression. Since the way we feel in our minds can make us feel bad physically. She suggests it may work the other way too.
Dr. Edward Greenwood of the Meninger Foundation states that the body and the mind don’t operate on different levels independently of each other. If one breaks down, the other necessarily suffers. Any change in the physiological state is accompanied by a change in the mental state; any change in the mental state is accompanied by a change in the physiological state. If he is right then strengthening the body clearly will help the mind.
How Much Exercise?
The anti-depressant effect of exercise may depend on the type, intensity, duration, and frequency of the physical activity. Dr. Robert Brown demonstrated anti-depressant effects with activity that was not very vigorous, such as softball. Similarly, walking three miles within 45 minutes several times a week relieved depression. In comparing the influence of tennis and jogging on depression, he found both to be effective.
However, jogging five days a week for 10 weeks caused a greater reduction in depression than playing tennis or jogging for three days a week. In addition, when allowed to select their exercise program, most depressed subjects selected the most vigorous activity. Brown’s belief was that there is more therapeutic value in vigorous physical activities.
Dr. Kostrubala’s patients experienced the best therapeutic results when they ran for one hour at 75% of their capacity, three times a week. Apparently, better results are obtained when the activity pursued develops the components of physical fitness. (circulo respiratory endurance and muscular strength and endurance).
Walking, jogging, tennis, racquetball, squash, handball, swimming, cycling, and weightlifting have all been effective in relieving depression. Even individuals who score normal on the depression scale improve their scores as they become physically fit. Brown claims he has never treated a physically fit person for depression.
What Types of Exercise can Help Depression?
If you decide to help relieve your depression through exercise, what type of exercise should you choose and how hard, long, and often should you perform? It is probable that the best results are obtained when the physical activity involves rhythmic movement of large muscle masses. And is performed at least four to five times a week at a moderately high intensity.
Whether you exercise alone or with someone is up to you. Activity can be effective therapy for you. The depression-free time that occurs during your physical activity, even if short-lived, may renew your outlook on life.
Words of Caution
Exercise is not a panacea. Some individuals will not respond to exercise therapy either because they fail to follow proper guidelines, or because they fail to understand both the benefits and limitations of an organized physical activity program. Others will not respond because they are so seriously depressed that they need professional help to determine the source of their problem.
