Recent evidence has shown that exercise is as effective as psychotherapy and anti-depressant drug therapy in treating mild to moderate depression, and even more effective when used in conjunction with the conventional therapies. Depression is the most common primary care psychiatric diagnosis, with a lifetime of prevalence of major depression being about five per cent of men and 10 per cent of women. These rates seem to be on the rise, which is alarming, as about 15 per cent of people suffering from severe major depressive disorders will die by suicide.
Depressed people can have symptoms ranging from mild to severe.
These include a depressed mood, loss of ability to experience pleasure, a loss of interest in usually enjoyable activities, a loss of motivation, changes in sleep, appetite, weight, energy and motor activity. Other dysfunction includes concentration problems, self deprecation and suicidal thoughts. Researchers found significantly reduced depression scores in severe and moderately depressed persons, following a six week aerobic exercise program. They found also elevated moods in non-depressed people. These improvements were even more marked at a six month follow up for those persons who continued to perform aerobic exercise.