Exercise and Prevention of Depression: American Journal of Psychiatry

Last edited Thu Nov 9, 2017, 12:57 AM - Edit history (4)

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16111223?journalCode=ajp

Published on Line....October 3, 2017
Exercise and the Prevention of Depression: Results of the HUNT Cohort Study

Objective:

The purpose of the present study was to address 1) whether exercise provides protection against new-onset depression and anxiety and 2) if so, the intensity and amount of exercise required to gain protection and, lastly, 3) the mechanisms that underlie any association.

Method:

A “healthy” cohort of 33,908 adults, selected on the basis of having no symptoms of common mental disorder or limiting physical health conditions, was prospectively followed for 11 years. Validated measures of exercise, depression, anxiety, and a range of potential confounding and mediating factors were collected.

Results

Undertaking regular leisure-time exercise was associated with reduced incidence of future depression but not anxiety

Conclusion

Regular leisure-time exercise of any intensity provides protection against future depression but not anxiety. Relatively modest changes in population levels of exercise may have important public mental health benefits and prevent a substantial number of new cases of depression.
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I have not printed all of the first page of the study. The conclusion is important, certain kinds of exercise prevent depression. The kinds of exercise that prevents depression are discussed. At other links, which will be presented, the kinds of exercise are described. This is the study that other links use as the bases of their research. Simply put, we are talking about continuous exercise that raise the heart rate some, not a lot, for 20 minutes a day 4 or 5 times a week. One example is continuous walking for 20-30 minutes, or riding a stationary bike for 20-30 minutes. Some other links with additional ideas will be presented, but, this is the study that proves that exercise can prevent a substantial number of new cases of depression.

Further, I was impressed by the number of adults included in the study. 33,908 is a lot of participants. Will exercise prevent depression in people that have previous episodes of depression ? That has not been proven, but may be possible. Here are more links to more articles.

New York Times: The Closest Thing to a Wonder Drug
Aaron E. Carroll
JUNE 20, 2016

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/upshot/why-you-should-exercise-no-not-to-lose-weight.html
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Business Insider: Even more evidence that one type of exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug that we have...October 5, 2017 (takes a while to load, give it some time)

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/best-exercise-for-brain-mental-health-2017-10
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Yahoo News: Even more evidence one type of exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug

....note: this article has many links to studies and more information The links are printed in blue, and all you have to do is click on a blue link and you get that new link. Here is an example..this is a sentence from theYahoo
News story..Go to the link, and click on the words."an article in the Harvard Medical School blog..
Then the article will take you to the source Harvard Medical School blog, and you will have the entire source:
"Aerobic exercise is the key for your head, just as it is for your heart," said an article in the Harvard Medical School blog "Mind and Mood.". (a lot of effort for all the links)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/theres-even-more-evidence-one-180100084.html