by Steve Christensen

Created on: July 04, 2010

Research shows that individuals who suffer from depression or anxiety can benefit from regular exercise. In fact, for many people with these disorders, physical activity is as effective for reducing their symptoms as conventional treatments – including medications, behavioral therapy, and psychotherapy.

In the April 2010 issue of "American Family Physician," scientists from The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, reported that exercise is superior to placebo for the treatment of mild to moderate depression and that strenuous exercise – either vigorous aerobic or high-intensity resistance exercise – was equal to treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), one of the most commonly prescribed classes of drugs for patients with depression.

The Brody team systematically reviewed dozens of scientific analyses that compared the benefits of exercise, meditation, yoga, and other types of activity to placebo and conventional treatment modalities. They discovered that exercise and yoga most consistently and reliably reduced depressed patients’ symptoms; individuals with anxiety experienced similar benefits.

Although tai chi, qigong, and meditation were shown to alleviate the symptoms of depression for a short period of time, those effects were not persistent. Therefore, the researchers did not consider these activities to be viable, stand-alone alternatives for treating depression or anxiety – although they certainly confer their own benefits and could be useful adjuncts to conventional therapy.

Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Respond to Exercise and Yoga

The symptoms of depression and anxiety frequently overlap, which accounts for the fact that the same medications are sometimes employed to treat both conditions. For persons who wish to avoid pharmaceutical agents, however, exercise or yoga alone may evoke improvement in some or all of the following symptoms:

-Insomnia (difficulty falling asleep, multiple awakenings during the night, or awakening earlier than usual)

-Feelings of helplessness or loss of control over one’s life

-Lack of energy or daytime sleepiness

-Loss of interest or lack of involvement in usual pleasurable activities

-Sadness or tearfulness

-Irritability

-Excessive worry or rumination

-Restlessness or agitation

-Sense of panic

-Pessimism, poor self esteem, or sense of failure

-Loss of appetite (or excessive appetite)

-Suicidal thoughts

-Somatic complaints (physical symptoms such as headache, body aches, or abdominal pain that have no diagnosable cause)

With increasing awareness of the multiple adverse effects associated with prescription medications, a significant number of individuals are seeking alternative approaches to depression and anxiety.  People who suffer from these conditions – even people with moderately severe cases – should consider exercise or yoga as part of their therapeutic regimen.

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