Ahuli - Everything Will Be Alright :-)

A recent study has discovered that exercise is as effective at combating depression as anti-depressant tablets.

The study, conducted by the American Medical Institute, involved the testing of 100 subjects, all of whom were clinically diagnosed as having ’severe depressive illness’. Of these 100 people, 25 were given a course of anti-depressant tablets, 25 were given an exercise routine to do in a group environment three times a week, 25 were given an exercise routine to do three times a week on their own at home, and a control group of 25 were given neither anti-depressant tablets, nor an exercise schedule.

Related posts:
Exercise And Antidepressants Use The Same Biochemical Pathway.

[...]Researchers conducting a study in mice have discovered that the brain must create new nerve cells for either exercise or antidepressants to reduce depression-like behavior. In addition, the researchers found that antidepressants and exercise use the same biochemical pathway to exert their effects.

These results might help explain some unknown mechanisms of antidepressants and provide a new direction for developing drugs to treat depression, said Dr. Luis Parada, chairman of developmental biology and senior author of a study in the Aug. 14 issue of the journal Neuron.

In animals, it was already known that long-term treatment with antidepressants causes new nerve cells to be generated in a part of the brain called the dentate gyrus. Exercise, which can also relieve the symptoms of depression, stimulates the generation of new nerve cells in the same area[...]

At the end of a 16-week period all the individuals were re-evaluated. It was found that the ‘tablets’ group and the two exercise groups were all improved to such a degree that they were all no longer classed as being clinically depressed; the only significant statistical difference came between the two exercise groups - it was found that the group who exercised in a group setting were slightly more improved than those who exercised on their own.

The evidence of this study strongly suggests that exercise is as effective at combating depression as anti-depressant tablets: I can add some direct personal testimony in support of it.

Though not suffering from ‘clinical depression’, for much of my late teenage and adult life I have suffered from something very closely connected - disabling panic attacks. For very many years I depended on prescription medication which, although helping control my levels of anxiety, did have the unfortunate side-effect of leaving me feeling rather ’spaced-out’! About 5 years ago I took up regular aerobic exercise in a group environment; about 4 years ago I felt well enough to stop taking the drugs! I believe there is a direct correlation between my taking up regular, group exercise and the significant improvement in my mental well-being. I now feel better than I can remember feeling, and what is more, my confidence levels have soared because I have lost weight and feel physically fit, healthy and strong. I now cannot wait to exercise because of how good it makes me feel!

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The Power of the Core-Breathing For Joy of Exercise For Depression.

[...]The hardest emotional experience that can be created as you exercise is joy in what your doing. To create joy in the power of the core/breathing for exercise, a person has to desire to connect with the internal to external through an interaction play that heightens emotional physical feeling in movement within each exercise. By conscious mind controlling muscle groups within the exercise give the mind the sense of physical muscles feeling as your doing your exercise. Creating joy and being joyful within each exercise is training the mind and body relationship to be in the here and now with the core/breathing within each exercise movement. Depression is the lack of feeling between mind and body and the mind is over thinking about negative things that makes person sad. Sadness produces low energy flow between mind and body.

To create the most powerful exercises affect, do not listen to music, watch TV and read for it damages the mind/body connection emotionally and promote emotional patterns thinking not related to what your doing. Creating a strong mind/body coordination connection requires a strong core and breathing pattern within each exercise that is mindfully directed through learned method. Engaging the core and breathing within each exercise is a learned experience that affects emotional state of being. Learning to replace depression is challenging and as such requires the development of skills that meet those challenges and finding the most affective that works for you take lot of effort but the rewards can not be measured. Learning new skills is learning new emotional experiences within doing.[...]

Of course, one does not have to be clinically or diagnostically depressed to reap the psychological benefits of regular exercise - a study carried out in the UK in 2008 tested out the psychological effects of exercise on a group of ‘ordinary’ women. All the women who managed to stick to the prescribed exercise regime of 3 sessions a week, reported feeling ‘happier’ than they had done when they had not been exercising. They commented specifically on things like having more energy, more confidence, a more positive body-image, and all reported that they felt less inclined to resort to ‘comfort-eating’ triggered by feelings of unhappiness.

If you do suffer from depression (and even if you do not) then I strongly recommend that you take up some form of regular exercise. Of course, one should never stop taking prescription medication without discussing it first with a GP or specialist, but starting regular exercise in a fun, supportive group atmosphere could well be a first step towards recovery. Regular exercise should be part of your weekly routine, helping you attain mental - and physical - wellbeing. Put very simply, exercise is a real prescription for happiness!

Donna Watmough lives in Norfolk, UK. She is a highly qualified and experienced Nutritionist and Exercise Counseller, specialising in Weight Loss. She is also highly in demand as a Freelance Journalist and Motivational Speaker. She runs her highly successful business, Live…Diet & Fitness, along with her husband Bill, who is a Personal Trainer. Please visit her website at http://www.norfolk-nutrition-weight-loss.com You can email her at donnakwt@aol.com