And patients may be resistant because they feel low in energy or motivation. This may be because exercise is hard to prescribe and monitor in clinical settings. Neither of these things are true in the case of exercise for mental health.Įven in Australia, medication and psychotherapy tend to be more commonly prescribed than exercise. While the label “alternative” can mean many things when it comes to treatment, it tends to suggest it sits outside conventional medicine, or does not have a clear evidence base. However, other leading bodies, such as the American Psychological Association Clinical Practice Guidelines, emphasise medication and psychotherapy alone, and list exercise as an “alternative” treatment – in the same category as treatments such as acupuncture. When comparing the size of the benefits of exercise to other common treatments for mental health conditions from previous systematic reviews, our findings suggest exercise is around 1.5 times more effective than either medication or cognitive behaviour therapy.įurthermore, exercise has additional benefits compared to medications, such as reduced cost, fewer side effects and offering bonus gains for physical health, such as healthier body weight, improved cardiovascular and bone health, and cognitive benefits.Įxercise is cheaper than medication, with fewer side effects. Longer-term exercise is important for maintaining mental health improvements. And exercising for six to 12 weeks has the greatest benefits, rather than shorter periods. For example, walking at a brisk pace, instead of walking at usual pace. We found the higher the intensity of exercise, the more beneficial it is. Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning The largest improvements (as self-reported by the participants) were seen in people with depression, HIV, kidney disease, in pregnant and postpartum women, and in healthy individuals, though clear benefits were seen for all populations. We found doing 150 minutes each week of various types of physical activity (such as brisk walking, lifting weights and yoga) significantly reduces depression, anxiety and psychological distress, compared to usual care (such as medications). We reviewed 97 review papers, which involved 1,039 trials and 128,119 participants. It showed exercise is an effective way to treat mental health issues – and can be even more effective than medication or counselling. Our recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed more than 1,000 research trials examining the effects of physical activity on depression, anxiety and psychological distress.
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