Depression & Exercise - Facts and Tips

Everyone feels sad from time to time, but depression is characterised by prolonged feelings of sadness, dejection and hopelessness. Depression is a complicated illness, which can involve a number of contributing factors such as genes, environment, lifestyle, brain activity, psychology and personality.

On average, depressed people only exercise about half as much as people who aren’t depressed. This lack of cardiovascular fitness puts a depressed person at an increased risk of heart attack. It also seems that depression and exercise influence each other – a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of depression and depression increases the likelihood of a sedentary lifestyle

Regular exercise can be an effective way to treat some forms of depression. Physical activity causes brain pleasure centres to be stimulated and leads to feelings of wellbeing. Exercise can also be an effective treatment for anxiety. Some research studies indicate that regular exercise may be as effective as other treatments like medication to relieve milder depression. Generally, exercise has a place in treatment as part of a comprehensive approach to the illness.

 Other therapeutic benefits of exercise

Apart from changes in brain activity, there are other factors that may help explain the benefits of exercise:

• The person experiences a boost to their self-esteem because they take an active role in their own recovery.
• Some forms of exercise, such as team sports, are also social events.
• Physical activity burns up stress chemicals, like adrenaline, which promotes a more relaxed state of mind.
• An enjoyable bout of exercise may be distracting enough to break the vicious cycle of pessimistic thinking.

Physical benefits
The physical benefits of regular exercise include:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness
• Reduced risk of premature death
• Reduced cholesterol level
• Reduced blood pressure
• Maintenance of healthy weight
• Improved muscle tone.

Getting started

Feeling tired and being less motivated in general are two very common symptoms of

depression. This means that exercise is often the last thing that people feel like doing

when they are experiencing depression. Therefore, it can be useful to use some of the

strategies below to help with motivation to gradually become more active:

Make a plan

* Start slowly and build up gradually. For example, if you have not been exercising

at all, start with a 10-15 minute walk each morning, and gradually increase this

to 30 minutes per day.

* Set short-term realistic goals for exercising each week (e.g. 3 x 20 minute walks

per week). Plan to exercise at specific times of the day that fit in with your

lifestyle and write your plan down.

* A range of health professionals can assist with increasing activity 

Keep motivated

* Keep an activity diary each day.

* A pedometer can be helpful in keeping track of your activity levels.

* Get other people involved – ask a friend, partner or relative to join you.

(Although it is common to not feel like socialising when experiencing depression,

it can be helpful to include others in exercise, to gain support and help with

motivation).

* Write down the specific benefits that you would like to gain from exercise, and

refer back to these to help with motivation (e.g. reduce stress, improve mood,

get in shape, and improve sleep).

* Write down the situations that you would expect to make it more difficult to

exercise, and a plan to address these (e.g. if it rains, go for a walk in a shopping

centre; if feeling tired, go for a 10 min walk)

Keep it up

* You don’t have to join a gym – try a variety of different types of activities to find

those that you enjoy (e.g. swimming, walking the dog, jogging whilst listening to

music, riding a bike, gardening, bushwalking, yoga, weight-lifting).

* Give yourself a break – if you don’t stick to your exercise plan, simply start again

from where you left off.

* Remember that it can take time for the benefits of exercise to occur.

(Most exercise studies showing a significant reduction in depression have examined

exercise programs of at least 8 weeks).

Seeking medical advice:

If you are new to exercise, are pregnant, a smoker, are overweight, have heart disease or major health problems,  see your doctor for medical advice before commencing vigorous exercise.