Aerobic exercise has antidepressant effects, and not negligible, again underlines this study which encourages depressed patients to take up sports activities. This meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials provides evidence in the journal Depression and Anxiety that supervised aerobic exercise has significant effects in patients with major depression, sometimes even greater than medication.
This is the conclusion of the combination of data from 11 eligible trials involving 455 adult patients, aged 18 to 65 years, with major depression who were asked to perform moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for an average of 45 minutes ( cardio, endurance) supervised 3 times a week for 9.2 weeks.
Better exercise than drugs! The overall antidepressant effect is found to be considerably greater than that of antidepressant medications and/or psychological therapies. Moreover, these moderate to strong antidepressant effects are supported by trials at low risk of bias. Subgroup analyzes reveal comparable effects for aerobic exercise in different settings and types of sessions, in outpatients and inpatients, and regardless of symptom severity.
In short, the practice of supervised aerobic exercise is an excellent option in the treatment of major depression.
