Exercise as an Anti-Depressant

Have you ever been close to someone who suffers from depression?  What you may or may not know is that while antidepressants can be life saving for some, they can be only partially effective and sometimes ineffective for others. Doctors respond initially by trying patients on other kinds of antidepressants but when that fails, they often prescribe a second antidepressant. This has become increasingly popular with studies showing the use of two antidepressants has doubled over the last decade. Along comes some research that suggests an alternative…

Dr.Madhukar Trivedi, director of the mood disorders research program at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center followed 122 patients between the ages of 18 and 70 who had been depressed for an average of seven years in spite of taking prescribed antidepressant medication (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or SSRI). For 12 weeks, they exercised on treadmills, stationary bicycles, or both. By the end of the study, almost 30 per cent of patients achieved full remission from their depression and another 20 per cent displayed significant improvement. Moderate exercise was found to be more effective for women with family histories of mental illness, whereas intense exercise was more effective for women without a family history of the disease. For men, a higher rate of exercise was more effective regardless of family history. This research points out how important it can be to tailor treatment not only to the individual but to take their gender into account as well. More on the issue of exercise as a form of working through psychological issues can be found in Chapter 3 of How’s Your Family Really Doing?