Benefits of Exercise for Depression – The Role of Physical Activity in Mental Health

Author:

Emma Loker

B.S

Editor:

Ashley Pena

LCSW

Depression can feel like being surrounded by thick fog – overwhelming, confusing, and devoid of color. When you’re struggling with severe depression symptoms like this, it’s easy to feel like there’s no way out. But what if a small activity like moving your body could help you to see through the fog?

Exercise has the ability to change your mental state as well as your physical state, potentially giving you some relief from your depression symptoms. Yet, it’s not always easy to stick to an exercise routine, and this is never more true than when you’re faced with a lack of energy and low mood, two characteristic symptoms of depression.

But why is exercising so good for depression? And how can it help to relieve depression symptoms? Keep reading to discover:

The benefits of exercising for depression
Exercise vs. medication: which is more effective?
The different forms of movement that can help boost your mood
Other forms of support for depression

Is Exercise Good for Depression?

Exercise isn’t just about improving your physical health – it also plays a role in managing your depression. Research shows that regular exercise can have a positive impact in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.¹

But how does physical activity have such an impact on what we feel? Let’s look at five key benefits that make exercise a vital part of managing your mental health.

5 Key Benefits of Exercise for Depression

1. How Movement Boosts Mood

You may have heard of neurotransmitters before when talking about depression: chemicals in the brain that affect your mood. When you exercise, some of these neurotransmitters are released – endorphins, endocannabinoids, and dopamine, to name a few. These all give you that feel-good aftereffect that you may have noticed after moving your body. This mood boost can alleviate some of the symptoms of depression.²

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week (equivalent to 30 minutes a day).³ However, we know how tricky this can be when you’re struggling with depression. Fortunately, research shows that even a quick 10-minute walk around the block can help you feel better and more alert, and give you a burst of energy!⁴

2. Physical Activity Can Be a Distraction

When you go for a run, cycle ride, or swim, you tend to pay attention to what your body is doing in that moment, which doesn’t leave much room for the mind to wander. Because of this, physical activity can be a positive distraction from depressive thoughts.

In fact, studies show that exercise can have more of a short-term positive effect on managing depression than activities such as journaling, which can cause you to focus more on negative thoughts you might be having.⁵

3. How Exercise Improves Confidence

Depression and low self-esteem often go hand-in-hand, as low self-confidence is a risk factor for depression and other mental health difficulties.⁶Unfortunately, struggling with confidence can make you feel like others are better than you, which can make it difficult to set boundaries and push yourself past your comfort zone.

Exercising positively influences how confident you feel in your looks or shape and how confident you feel in yourself. When you exercise you become fitter, healthier, and stronger, which can boost self-esteem. Exercise can also give you a more positive outlook on life, make it easier to express your needs, and make you less likely to focus on your weaknesses over your many strengths.

What’s more, each time you exercise you’re showing up and achieving something for your health, which naturally boosts self-esteem. Exercising also makes you more likely to get a good night’s sleep, which can help you feel even better about yourself and combat that lack of energy that comes from depression.⁷

4. Exercise Is a Healthy Coping Strategy

We all have coping strategies whether we admit it or not – things that we do to reduce our stress in some way. You may have heard of coping strategies either being ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’, but what do they actually mean?

Unhealthy coping strategies tend to make you feel good in the moment but can have bad effects long-term, whereas healthy coping strategies don’t always provide instant mood boosts, but have positive long-lasting effects.⁸ Exercising allows you to walk away from a problem, refocus, and reap other health rewards that fitness also brings, making it one of the healthiest coping strategies.⁹

Note – as with all coping strategies, it’s important to make sure that exercise isn’t done compulsively or excessively. Even with healthy habits like exercise, there can be too much of a good thing!

5. Physical Activity Increases Social Interaction

Exercise can be done alone, such as at home or at the gym, but there are many more benefits to be gained from doing exercise with another person. It has been shown that people who exercise with others feel like it’s the social aspect that motivates them to keep going.¹⁰

Working or playing with others, pre- and post-workout chats, getting to know new people who enjoy the same things that you do – you’re connecting with others at a time when depression can make you feel cut off from other people.

Even though we all know that exercise is good for our health in general, sometimes that knowledge alone isn’t enough to make us commit to doing something. Getting that warm feeling inside, that happens when you are bonding with someone over a hobby, can sometimes be that extra motivator we need to get moving.

Is Exercise Just as Effective as Antidepressants?

When it comes to exercise vs. antidepressants, there’s lots of talk among experts and researchers over which one is preferable. Before delving into the research on this, it’s important to note that the best treatment approach differs for everyone. While antidepressants may work for some people, others may find that their symptoms don’t respond to this form of treatment (as is the case with treatment-resistant depression).

What’s more, for some people, there can be barriers to exercising. For example, existing health conditions, cost, self-consciousness, or a lack of time. So, it’s important to choose a treatment approach that’s best for you, regardless of what the research says.

However, when it comes to the research, studies show that exercise can be as much as 1.5 times more effective at lowering mild-to-moderate depression symptoms, as well as anxiety and stress, compared to medication.^11,12Additionally, due to the lack of side effects in exercise compared to taking medication, it’s many people’s preferred treatment.

Different Forms of Exercise for Depression

Studies show that exercise or physical activity is beneficial for those with depression, but what type of exercise can work? Does it have to be all-or-nothing, or can something more gentle also be useful? We’ll look at a few of the best workouts for depression below.

1. Walking for Depression Relief

Walking is a great, low-impact, low-intensity form of exercise that can bring you the physical benefits of exercise while lifting your mood at the same time. Some of these include better sleep, stress relief, improved mood, increased energy, and feeling more mentally alert. As mentioned earlier, you can build up the positive effects even more by walking with friends or joining a walking group so that you have some company to encourage you along!¹³

2. Yoga for Mental Health

Developing a yoga practice for yourself can be a great way to improve your well-being overall. Not only will it help to make you stronger and more flexible, but the spiritual side of the practice encourages compassion, calmness, and self-awareness. Studies show that yoga can be a great complementary therapy for depression because of these effects, as well as helping you feel more relaxed and less irritable.¹⁴

3. Strength Training for Depression

Strength training - also known as resistance training - is any type of exercise that uses weights or resistance to build muscle strength. Think of things like push-ups, lifting weights, or using resistance bands during exercise. Some studies have found that resistance training can have an antidepressant effect. One research study in particular which looked into the effects of resistance training on depression found that overall it had a positive effect on patients. It also had the effect of improving their sleep, quality of life, and their strength. This suggests that strength training could be useful as part of a multi-pronged approach to treating depression. However, some questions were raised in the study, like the potential effects in different age groups, and what level or type of training is considered to have the best effects. So, while the majority of research suggests strength training is helpful for depression, there may be limitations.¹⁵

4. Running and Depression Relief

Running is a popular exercise choice for many people: it’s free, you can do it on your own or with people, it requires little to no equipment, and can be done almost anywhere! But how good is it as a choice for depression relief? One study compared two groups of people: one group had antidepressant medication, and the other group had a running therapy program (45-minute guided running sessions, two to three times a week). The research found there was a similar level of depression symptom reduction among both groups, highlighting how important exercise can be if you have depression.¹⁶

Other Help for Depression

There are many different types of depression treatment available for you to choose from. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines recommend a number of options depending on your symptoms, which include:¹⁷

Exercise
Group therapy
Medications
Guided self-help
Holistic approaches like mindfulness, yoga, and nutrition

Therapy for depression is also highly effective and can often bring long-lasting relief. Several different therapy approaches have been studied and found to be particularly helpful in reducing the symptoms of depression and providing future protection against it. These include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT has proven highly effective for depression – research consistently shows that CBT can help to reduce depression symptoms. What’s more, when paired with depression medication, this treatment approach is more effective than medication alone.¹⁸

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a newer therapy approach that is grounded in CBT’s principles. The aim of DBT is to help you understand and accept your difficult emotions, learn coping skills to manage these and develop a more positive outlook on life.

Mindfulness-Based Theraoy

Mindfulness-based therapy helps to recognize and acknowledge negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with healthier ones through mindfulness strategies. Research shows that mindfulness-based therapy can be highly effective for depression, including treatment-resistant depression.¹⁹

Reach Out for Treatment for Depression Today

At Mission Connection, we are ready to help you take your first step on the road to recovery. When you choose our services, you can first expect a thorough assessment by a qualified professional. This will help us understand how depression is affecting you and your life, and what changes you’d like to make.

Using this foundational information, we can bring together a completely individualized plan to help you, which might include individual or group therapy sessions, medication management, or a combination of approaches. We work with you to check your progress, adjust your plan as needed, and provide you with ongoing support as well as the skills to manage your depression.

We recognize that the cost of treatment for mental health care can be a concern. That is why we provide a range of payment options, including insurance plans, flexible private pay, and financing plans to spread the costs over time, as well as sliding scale fees based on financial need.

Ready to take your first step towards a brighter future? Contact us today to find out how we can support your journey to recovery.

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