A recent study has confirmed that exercise is an effective treatment for depression, with an effect size larger than antidepressants.
“Exercise is efficacious in treating depression and depressive symptoms and should be offered as an evidence-based treatment option focusing on supervised and group exercise with moderate intensity and aerobic exercise regimes,” the researchers write.
Exercise showcased a larger average improvement over placebo than antidepressants (4.7 points in this study, versus less than 2 points for antidepressants). Moreover, exercise had an NNT (number needed to treat) of 2, meaning 1 out of every 2 people who exercise will experience improvement. The typical NNT cited for antidepressant drugs is 7 or more, meaning that only 1 out of every 7 people (at best) taking the drug gets better.
“For every two people treated with exercise, it is expected at least one to have a large magnitude reduction in depressive symptoms,” the researchers write.
The international group of researchers was led by Andreas Heissel at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and the study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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