“Exercise Trumps Medication: A Review of Over 1,000 Studies Shows Exercise’s Superiority in Treating Mental Health”

What do you do when you’re feeling down? Which of these four options would you choose: a. Open a bag of potato chips and eat; b. Call a friend; c. Take an extra dose of antidepressants;

In fact, years of research have shown that exercise is one of the best ways to treat a variety of mental health problems.

According to a new review published in the February 2023 issue of the British medical journal “British Journal of Sports Medicine”, a team of 13 Australian scientists analyzed the results of research across the field, and the results of the analysis support this even more clearly. one point of view.

Globally, as the researchers have found, the first-line treatment for mental health problems is often medication, while lifestyle modifications like exercise, healthy sleep patterns, and healthy diets are considered only adjunctive options. Even when lifestyle changes are recommended for patients, doctors rarely prescribe them.

More than 1000 research evidence

To comprehensively assess the positive and negative effects of physical activity on depression, anxiety and psychological stress in adults, Australian researchers conducted an “umbrella overview”, a comprehensive analysis of all the research done in this area to date. Research.

An overview of this type of review is done to attempt to quantify the strength of the evidence.

A single scientific study can provide direct evidence of whether a treatment works, but the evidence is stronger when the results of hundreds of studies corroborate each other and support the generalizability of a treatment or intervention’s efficacy and should be considered use.

Since there is already a large body of research on the relationship between exercise and mental health, the Australian team sought to analyze the findings across the field.

To do so, they looked at nearly 100 review articles, including more than 1,000 studies involving more than 100,000 participants. In other words, they did a “systematic review and systematic review, synthesizing and analyzing a large body of evidence”.

Exercise can reduce depression by 40-60%, which is far more effective than drugs

Mental health issues are often treated on the sidelines and not given enough attention and attention. But half of the population as a whole has experienced some mental health distress at some point in their lives, and more than 10% of people globally are currently facing mental health challenges.

Anxiety is the most common problem, and symptoms of anxiety seem to become more pronounced in children and young adults, while depression has the greatest impact on normal functioning of life.

Australian researchers have found that exercise is the most effective treatment for depression. Specifically, exercise was 150% more effective than drugs or “cognitive-behavioral therapy.”

It’s also better than counseling or “talk therapy.” In fact, exercise has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms by 42 percent to 60 percent, while talk therapy and medication can only reduce them to between 22 percent and 37 percent.

Exercise has been shown to be the best treatment for anxiety and depression, although medication is the most commonly recommended treatment.

1. Exercise of any kind is healing

Every exercise has therapeutic benefits. Numerous studies have covered different types and schedules of exercise, and they’ve all been shown to be effective—regular activity of any kind (including dancing, walking, and yoga) is far better than no exercise at all.

However, the researchers also found that short bursts of high-intensity exercise worked best. “High-intensity interval training” (HIIT) has become a trend in recent years, and perhaps with good reason, it’s worth it.

The researchers analyzed studies that focused on brief “high-intensity interval training” (HIIT) workouts and found that the effects stood out across the board.

For older adults, however, a simple daily walk of 20 to 40 minutes can be especially effective.

Walking, unlike doing short, intense exercises, may not seem as exciting or sweat-inducing, but it’s a better option for people who aren’t suited for strenuous activity. Those who take daily walks greatly improve their mental health through this moderate, regular activity.

2. Suitable for pregnant women and chronic patients

According to the study, exercise can be especially helpful for the mental health of certain groups of people, including women during pregnancy and postpartum, people living with HIV, and people with kidney disease.

Because the researchers looked at a large number of different studies, specific populations and subgroups were analyzed independently, and the findings from these populations stand out in particular.

Even in physically fit people, exercise has an excellent effect on improving mental health.

3. Suitable for mild to moderate patients

Despite the positive findings from the review, exercise is not a panacea for all mental health problems.

People who are severely depressed or mentally disturbed may not be able to exercise, and people who have a mental health disorder due to a physical cause, or who suffer an illness or injury later in life, may not be able to take advantage of physical activity to improve their mood.

But for overall mental health problems associated with mild to moderate common mood disorders, exercise was surprisingly effective.

Australian researchers concluded that exercise as a first-line treatment, along with medication when needed, along with helpful counseling, would be the best approach for most people with common mental health problems, while also Saved resources can be used for those patients who require more aggressive treatment modalities.

However, exercise is often not studied by professional mental health therapists, which is a missing piece. Other recent studies have shown that playing table tennis can help people with Parkinson’s disease. People who exercised at a low level (walking at least 10,000 steps, about 5 miles) a day had more total brain volume than those who exercised little or no exercise. Increase and slow down brain aging.

p

The logical conclusion of the Australian review, consistent with other research, is that for most patients exercise therapy should be preferred over medication for the treatment of depression, anxiety and distress.

But you don’t need to wait for your doctor to approve your new exercise program, just shut down your computer, put on your sneakers, and hit the run or walk. Either way, your brain will thank you.

Some reference sources for this article:



https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/ping-pong-for-parkinsons_5065984.html

For the English report, please see the English “Epoch Times”:Study Confirms Physical Exercise Should Be First Choice for Mental Health Treatment。

Living in a chaotic world, if you have a healthy heart, you willlookHealth 1+1！

Editor in charge: Li Fan