quote:

Conclusions

Exercise is an effective treatment for depression, with walking or jogging, yoga, and strength training more effective than other exercises, particularly when intense. Yoga and strength training were well tolerated compared with other treatments. Exercise appeared equally effective for people with and without comorbidities and with different baseline levels of depression. To mitigate expectancy effects, future studies could aim to blind participants and staff. These forms of exercise could be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as core treatments for depression.

Ref: Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Interesting, but like many “studies” it leaves a lot to question.

quote:

What this study adds

Various exercise modalities are effective (walking, jogging, mixed aerobic exercise, strength training, yoga, tai chi, qigong) and well tolerated (especially strength training and yoga)
Effects appeared proportional to the intensity of exercise prescribed and were stronger for group exercise and interventions with clear prescriptions
Preliminary evidence suggests interactions between types of exercise and patients’ personal characteristics

Reading the whole thing (my head hurts now), people who do physical activities with other people benefit the most. Like dancing.

I don’t know how many people that are truly depressed just go to dance classes.

It's hard to argue against the benefits of going for a walk, but with the certainty levels at "low" or "very low" I'd say it's another garbage study with poor control of confounding variables.

Read a study or go for a long jog and see the proof yourself.

Psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for depression despite what Big Pharma has to say. Many years ago a Wisconsin psychiatrist took inpatients off the ward and made them jog. {More like walk}. All improved substantially. Exercise is quite effective in the treatment of depression. Practically all inpatient psychiatric programs have recreational therapy which involves walking and running.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
I don’t know how many people that are truly depressed just go to dance classes.

The point here being maybe they should?

Like most pharmaceuticals, drugs like SSRIs don't cure, they mask or mitigate--often creating as many problems as they address.

Dancing, walking, yoga, strength training tend to be all upside, zero downside. Plus, unlike many (most?) pharmaceuticals, physical exercise can kill many poor health birds with one stone, so to say. (E.g.: Mental healh and obesity and diabetes and sleep apnea and high cholesterol and poor mobility and ...)

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
... with the certainty levels at "low" or "very low" I'd say it's another garbage study with poor control of confounding variables.

It's a meta study. (Aka: Meta-analysis) The certainty levels they assigned to each therapy modality's results were based upon their assessments of the studies used for the raw data.

That SSRIs have the lowest uncertainty rating should come as little surprise. One imagines somebody (*cough*) was willing to pay the Big Bucks to conduct those studies.

I don't think there needed to be a study done to know that exercise improves ones mental as well as physical state. And it doesn't take a lot either.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I don't think there needed to be a study done to know that exercise improves ones mental as well as physical state. And it doesn't take a lot either.

This is what academics do. It is their entire livelihood. Think up a question, do a study, and keep the paychecks rolling in. It's mostly a racket.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
...Think up a question, do a study, and keep the paychecks rolling in. It's mostly a racket.

Yup.

Friend of mine was a professor at UTEP and she said one of their metrics for success was how much $$$ in grant money they could bring in along with how many articles they could get published.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. This is nothing new. Your success is not measured by your skill in teaching undergraduates. Publish or Perish is the name of the game. The journal in which you publish better be of quality as well. Bringing in grant money is a given. Kind of miniscule when compared to the athetic department.

i'm 77, walk around the property several x's/day, go to the gym 4 days/week, volunteer 2 days/week!!

i can see why sitting around all day long, reading studies about depression could be depressing!!

BDNF is the best drug.

Getting some surgery soon,
Am waiting to re join the tiny town gym around the first of March.

Am missing the benefits of "two a day "gym visits.

Not only the physical, but the mental and psychological

We had a health care pro deer hunting with us last Nov. I tried to get him action, he had a clean miss on an anterless though, modest range.

I think he was a ‘nurse practitioner’, not sure where that sits in the hierarchy in the field.

One conversation touched on meds for depression & anxiety. He had a strong opinion that lifestyle changes can be as or more effective. Along with that is the ‘system’ & ‘big pharma’ making $$ with prescription drugs.

Just one person’s opinion, I know.

Being involved in something that requires your attention and focus away from whatever is depressing you is therapy enough. When I was depressed because of my financial and work situation, I went golfing just about every day. I met a guy golfing who also had an upside down mortgage and we made dates to play together.

Hitting that small white ball and looking for it in the waning hours of sunlight gave me a short respite from the stress in my mind.

There is a very big concern these days for health care professionals .

They are spending so much time caring for the sick ,then their own family that they are neglecting to care for themselves.

Both physically as well as emotionally and mentally.

Big numbers of them are going weight a over stressing
.

I did a research project in college. We took a class of kids who were in a swim class and rated their stress before and after class and a semester later when they were out of the class. The effects of swimming as a factor in reducing stress were remarkable.

Keys to the study were kids that were not regular swimmers, they were assigned the class as part of the PE requirement rather than people who swim for competition.