If you’ve been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, recent research suggests that you should consider engaging in a regular exercise program. It’s well known that exercise improves your mood in the short term, but there’s now evidence that it might also have a long-lasting effect on your mental health.
Interestingly, exercise appears to work better than relaxation, meditation, stress education (whatever that is), and music therapy when it comes to fighting anxiety and depression. What’s less clear is exactly how it works.
Regardless of the mechanism, SMU psychologist Jasper Smits thinks that depressed or anxious people should get written exercise prescriptions, including specific instructions for starting (and sticking to) an exercise program. This isn’t to say that exercise should take the place of medications and/or psychotherapy, but it can be a good complement.
To date, most studies have on the benefits of aerobic exercise, so less is known about the benefits of strength training. As for how much exercise you need, the general rule of 150 minutes of “moderate” exercise, or 75 minutes of “vigorous” exercise per week is a great place to start.
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I think I can testify to the truth of this.