Exercise: The Miracle Antidepressant Drug?

[KBLSD]

(NewsTarget) Common wisdom holds that exercise boosts your mood, in addition to benefiting your physical health. Terms such as “endorphins” and “runner’s high” are afloat in the popular lexicon. If you are a person who exercises regularly, or if you know someone who does, you will likely be aware of this bonus that comes along with vigorous physical activity. Ample evidence seems to suggest that exercise might hold great promise in the treatment of disorders such as depression. But anecdotal evidence and personal testimony do not a mental health revolution make. A new anti-depressant medication, for example, must be tested through clinical trials that prove its efficacy and safety before it can be put on the market.

In the last couple decades, there has been some interest in looking at the mental health value of exercise. Until recently, however, studies investigating the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of mental health have not been conducted with the same level of scientific rigor as the clinical trials used to bring anti-depressant medications to the market. Limitations of previous studies have included the absence of a control group, individuals not being randomly assigned to study groups, and testing the effects of exercise on individuals who were not suffering from a mood disorder.

But a recent placebo-controlled study conducted by James Blumenthal, professor of psychology at Duke University and published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine compared exercise to a common antidepressant medication in a group of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and found that exercise was as effective as the drug at alleviating symptoms of the disorder. In this study, 202 depressed adults were randomly assigned to one of four groups: one that received the antidepressant sertraline, one that worked out in a supervised group setting three times a week, one that worked out at home, or one that received a placebo pill. Sixteen weeks later, 47% of the group that took the antidepressant, 45% of the supervised exercise group, and 40% of those that exercised at home no longer met the criteria for major depression based on a standard measure of depression symptoms. Although the percent of improvement in the group that exercised on their own was less than that of those that exercised in a supervised group, and the percent improvement in the supervised exercise group was slightly less than that of the group that took the antidepressant, the differences between these three groups were not statistically significant. All groups improved a statistically significant amount over the placebo group, 31% of which no longer met the criteria for depression at the end of the study. This study provides powerful evidence that exercise may be a viable alternative to antidepressant medication in the treatment of major depressive disorder.

Other studies have found that the benefits of physical activity can be realized in individuals who are not depressed, but who feel, as is common in our fast-paced culture, that they are mentally worn out and need more energy. In his book, “Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise” Dr. Robert E. Thayer describes how exercise can be used as a personal mood-regulator, and cites one of his studies in which it was found that as little as ten minutes of brisk walking raised the mood and increased the energy levels of the subjects in the experiment for up to 2 hours after the walk.

More research is needed to replicate these types of studies and further define the mental health benefits of exercise. Questions yet to be answered include what types of exercise (e.g., cardiovascular or weight training), what level of intensity and duration, and what frequency of exercising will produce the most benefits. Additionally, gender or age differences may need to be taken into account when structuring an exercise program aimed at boosting mood.

With this much potential for positive mental health benefits, and with the most likely side effect being better physical health and possible weight loss, it is easy to imagine that if exercise were a marketable drug, it would be at the top of the drug companies’ lists of products to promote. If more research emerges that clarifies and confirms the potential of exercise in the treatment of disorders such as depression, we may soon hear doctors say, “Run two miles and call me in the morning” to their patients who complain of feeling down.

Sources:
Psychosomatic Medicine, September 2007;
Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. Robert E. Thayer, Ph.D., Oxford University Press, 2001.
http://www.newstarget.com/022299.html

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great find.

[Wemhim]

That's pretty interesting, maybe that's why I sometimes feel the need to pace around. Since I don't do much.

[euphoric_rose]

i agree, exercise works! it really does.

when all else fails... go work out! lol

[Lethargy]

Exercise along with paroxetine allowed me to throw off my depression long enough to get to the underlying factors.

I actually cannot claim the paroxetine did anything since I began exercising multiple hours a day shortly after the drug stabilized its concentration in my system. I quit the paroxetine though and have not recessed into depression since then (about 4 years now), though I do get "Seasonal Affective Disorder" during winter sometimes.

If I manage to exercise during the winter months (difficult since I bicycle) then the SAD doesn't affect me as much though.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for adding your experience. It's great that you can fight your depression this way.

[enquirewithin]

Exercise is does make you feel better about yourself and floods the brain with endorphins, which is nice, if you work out hard enough, but won't cure deep depression.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Confirmed!

[Pino]

^^ That is swims opinion too. It will give one more energy, gives a better feeling etc. But if that isn't the source of your problems, exercise is not going to cure it.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Confirmed!

[Shampoo]

While this ^ may be the case in common practice and even common sense, regular exercise has the potential to radically alter neurochemistry, as has been shown time and time again. Accordingly, a healthier metabolism, increased oxygen consumption, and increased circulation (all products of regular exercise), all play a major role in the body's production of endogenous neurotransmitters, including notably dopamine, serotonin, and nor-epinephrine.

[juanathan]

if you live in a safe neighborhood, something i just started doing in the past few weeks is going out and taking a 15 minute jog followed by a 15 minute walk at midnight. its totally peaceful, if you've got some good music on your ipod thats an added plus. there must be something going on out in space because tonight it was past midnight and i saw eight meteors, in thirty minutes.

yeah but if you want to do some light exercising where no one will see you, go for a midnight jog.

[Pino]

Originally Posted by Shampoo

While this ^ may be the case in common practice and even common sense, regular exercise has the potential to radically alter neurochemistry, as has been shown time and time again. Accordingly, a healthier metabolism, increased oxygen consumption, and increased circulation (all products of regular exercise), all play a major role in the body's production of endogenous neurotransmitters, including notably dopamine, serotonin, and nor-epinephrine.

Swim sports a lot, but he still has a winter depression. Maybe if one has a winter depression and doesn't sport, the thing get elevated. Swim has to admit, it is not a major one. Just a bit on the cynical side in winter. Dopamine is a big player, when one sports, swim feels. After exercise he feels a rush, which sometimes exceeds cocaine. Really nice. Can this vary from person to person? Because a friend of his got more endorphines.

About the meteorites, there is a meteor shower in mid december: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids
It will peak today, a good day to go outside jogging.

[Shampoo]

Originally Posted by Pino

. Can this vary from person to person? Because a friend of his got more endorphines.

How does this friend count endorphins?
To answer the question, of course it varies from person to person, both depending on weight, metabolism, and of course, mental health.

[FrankenChrist]

^^^cool! I saw the meteors too!

I concur with the rest.

After a while you start to look better too, which gives you confidence.
Exercise gives me the motivation to eat healthier too. Both these factors help your depression tremendously but like one poster said you have to get to the bottom of it.

[Shampoo]

After attending a recent seminar on neurotrophin development led by UCLA's primary neuroscience researcher, Gómez-Pinilla, the implications of exercise on behavioral development and depression have been confirmed as primarily stemming from BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) production. Increased production results in both the generation of new and healthy neural pathways and the increased activity of old ones. The result is an overall higher brain functioning, both in neural activity and neurotransmitter production. This manifests itself with an increased memory, visual acuity, problem-solving potential, and social cognition, as outlined by Gómez-Pinilla. Exercises impact on BDNF production is measurably impacting, and clearly plays a major role in the cognitive and behavioral benefits associated with regular exercise.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for summarizing that

[bcubed]

I absolutely am sold on exercise's anti-depressant properties.

But the mechanism of action is not totally clear: first, there's the endorphins, but also there's the fact that, when one is feeling depressed, there's a tendency to let onesself go, which seems to exacerbate the problem. Making myself not just exercise, but to maintain standards of appearance and hygiene, seemed to help me in such situations.

Until recently, however, studies investigating the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of mental health have not been conducted with the same level of scientific rigor as the clinical trials used to bring anti-depressant medications to the market.

Gee, I can't imagine why...