How do exercise and depression correlate?

The following holds for anyone: “Any type of exercise is useful as long as it suits you and you do enough of it,” “exercise should be something you enjoy otherwise it will be hard to find the motivation to do it regularly.”, Dr. Cohen.  For those that experience depression exercise can be particularly beneficial in helping with their depression.  Everyone feels sad from time to time but depression is characterized by prolonged feelings of sadness, dejection and hopelessness.  One in five women and one in eight men experience depression at some point in their lives.  Depression is complicated and can’t be fully explained here, but what can be said about it here is that depression can involve a number of contributing factors such as genes, environment, lifestyle, brain activity, psychology and personality.  Regular activity can help depression as physical activity causes brain pleasure centers to be stimulated and lead to feelings of wellbeing.   The correlation of exercise and depression for some can be that more exercise helps with the symptoms of depression.

Some ways that exercise helps in prevention and treatment of depression are:

1. it releases endorphins (the body’s mood elevating, pain relieving compounds) while
2. reducing the levels of cortisol – the stress depression hormone in the bloodstream
3. boosts self-esteem by yielding positive feeling of accomplishment and autonomy

Preliminary results from a study on depression at Duke University show that acute doses of physical activity rather than sustained regular exercise may be more effective in reducing feelings of depression, anger and fatigue.

The most common physiological explanation for exercise helping with the treatment of depression involve the action of endorphins within the central nervous system, the elevation of the body and brain temperature, the distraction hypothesis (a “time out” from worry can trigger relief from depression) and the mastery hypothesis (the completion of an important task brings a sense of well-being).

Over a hundred studies examining the relationship between exercise and depression have been made since the 1900’s.  Findings suggest that exercise produces the best results when training lasts longer than 9 weeks and involves more frequent sessions undertaken at a greater degree of intensity and duration.  The research also shows that exercise decreases depression more than relaxation training or casual recreation.  Exercise also provides other health benefits.