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(HealthDay
News) -- The millions of Americans stricken each year by debilitating
depression may want to consider running away from their problem -- or
walking, swimming or dancing it away. "What the studies
are showing is that exercise seems to be at least as effective as
standard antidepressant medications in reducing symptoms in patients
with major depression," said researcher James Blumenthal, a
professor of medical psychology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. According to Blumenthal,
studies suggest that exercise,
such as workouts at the gym or a daily jog, can be effective in beating
the blues, and that "duration of exercise didn't seem to matter --
what seemed to matter most was whether people were exercising or
not." Blumenthal was lead
author on a much-publicized study released five years ago that found
that just 10 months of regular, moderate exercise outperformed a
leading antidepressant (Zoloft) in easing symptoms in young adults
diagnosed with moderate to severe depression. And another study
released earlier this year, by researchers at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, found that 30-minute aerobic
workouts done three to five times a week cut depressive symptoms by 50
percent in young adults. Theories abound as to how
revving up the body helps uncloud the mind. Robert E. Thayer is a
professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and
the author of Calm Energy: How People
Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. He said that while workouts
probably affect key brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine,
physical activity may also trigger positive changes in other areas, too. "Depression is a
condition characterized by low energy and moderate tension, something I
call 'tense tiredness,'" he said. But exercise has a clear
"mood effect" that seems to ease that anxious but lethargic
state, he said. According to Thayer,
moderate exercise -- a brisk 10-minute walk, for example -- results in a
boosting of energy, although it may not be quite enough to relieve
stress. "More intense
exercise -- the amount you'd engage in with a 45-minute aerobic workout
-- does give a primary mood effect of reducing tension. It might also
leave you with a little less energy because you'd be tired, of
course," he said. "However, there's also some indication from
the research that there's a 'rebound' effect an hour or so later, in
terms of [increased] energy." Blumenthal pointed to the
more lasting psychological boost regular workouts can bring.
"People who exercise might also have better self-esteem; it may
help them feel better about themselves, having that great sense of
accomplishment," he said. Still, the experts
acknowledged that truly depressed individuals often find it tough to
jump into an exercise routine. "Why do people not
do the thing that's perhaps the most important thing for them to
do?" said Thayer. "It's because a drop in energy is such a
central component of depression -- you just don't have the energy to do
the exercise." He said the key to
breaking that cycle is to start small. "Thinking about
going to the gym and doing all the stuff that's involved with that can
be overwhelming for a depressed person," Thayer pointed out.
"But if you think 'Hey, maybe I'll just walk down the street 30
yards or so, at a leisurely pace,' that's a start. And it turns out that
your body becomes activated then -- you have more of an incentive to
walk farther, to do more." Loved ones can play a key
role, too, urging a depressed friend or family member to join in with
them as they work out. "Social support, peer pressure, family
support -- all of that can be helpful, certainly in getting people to
maintain exercise," Blumenthal said. No one is saying that
exercise is always a substitute for drug therapy, especially for the
severely depressed. "But we also know that these drugs aren't
effective for everyone -- about a third of people aren't going to get
better with medication," Blumenthal said. For those patients,
exercise may prove a viable, worry-free alternative -- with one great
fringe benefit. "In addition to its
mental health benefits, there are some clear cardiovascular benefits to
exercise which we don't see with antidepressant drugs, of course,"
Blumenthal noted. So, he said, what keeps the mind fit strengthens the
body, too. "You're killing two birds with one stone."
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