Experts Say Exercise Should Be Prescribed for Depression

April 6, 2010 7:50 am 3 comments

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Art Jahnke

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Can exercise chase away the blues? Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas thinks so. So does Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University. Speaking at a recent conference of the Anxiety Disorder Association of America, the two experts argued that their analysis of numerous studies of the influence of exercise on depression and anxiety made a case for training for therapists in exercise therapy. Smits believes that exercise acts like an antidepressant on
particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain. His research, he says, shows that exercise reduces their fears of fear and related
bodily sensations such as a racing heart and rapid breathing. He recommends that people who are depressive work up to the public health dose of exercise, which is 150
minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of
vigorous-intensity activity.

3 Comments

tim

April 7, 2010
2:09 pm

what is so messed up and amazing to me is how these facts about exercise and mental health (everyone thinks about the physical health aspects, not enough about how it helps you mentally) are so different from what our brains tend to want – what they tell us to do. How many people have brains that say “Go to the gym” “Go run” “Exhaust yourself” and stuff like that ( a few, and i envy them). Mostly our brains say “Watch TV” “Take it easy” “Avoid discomfort”. All the stuff that leads to depression, anxiety, eating and weight problems, etc. Our brains don’t want us to do what is best for our brains (and bodies). I can imagine some reasons why this is so. But whatever the reasons, exercising enough is a life long “fight” for me.

Reply
Paul

April 10, 2010
1:19 pm

Our brains tell us that only because those things are available. Our brains are still the same ones that people had over the last several thousand years, in which people, even aristocrats, had much more active lives than we do.
I sympathize with you, however. I suffer from depression, and making myself exercise is VERY difficult.

Reply
walker_mark@bellsouth.net

April 16, 2010
3:40 pm

several thousand years? Try 5 million.
Off point, but still.

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