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Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

sciencedaily.com

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Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#21

Post by gehsty »

ge96 wrote: post #20
gehsty wrote: post #19

If it helps anyone I take antidepressants and have had a positive experience with them. Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance and no amount of exercise or talking about it will fix it. One of the most frustrating things when your really low is people giving advice like do exercise to feel better - please don’t do this.

that $5K deductible though...

Apologies - one of the very few great things left in UK is the NHS and my diagnosis was free and my prescription is £9/month.

I take sertraline (Zoloft in the US I think) and that is cheap - $20/30 month.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#22

Post by mrgoldenbrown »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #13
HauntingPin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also question the universality of it. No amount of exercise changed my depression or made life any less miserable. Anti-depressants finally helped me get past the trauma I was unable to properly process otherwise.

And you think the effects of drugs is universal? Exercise is a side effect free treatment that works for some people so it’s worth a shot because it sometimes works.

The poster you responded to didn't claim that drugs were universally helpful. I think the main point is that there is no universal that works for everyone. For some exercise works, for some drugs, for others therapy. And "works" isn't a yes/no, one might work a little for you, one might work super great.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#23

Post by throw128 »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #7

I take this to mean therapy for depression (particularly for men) is barely effective at all and exercise is not quite as barely effective at all. If therapy for depression were a pill, I'm not sure it'd demonstrate enough efficacy to get approved.

Anecdotal obviously, but from my experiences and those in my friend-group, therapy seems actively harmful in many circumstances. Therapy can be an enabler of bad behavior, helping to build a new fancy framework of excuses just as easily as it can help you land somewhere better. How long has it been since you've seen something bad (maybe it was just slightly selfish, maybe it was something worse and chronic) waved away as "self-care"? Or if you've lost faith in people or communication generally, then you're not going to feel better by going through many rounds of therapist mismatch and at some point you've aggravated problems rather than fixing them. Fortunately for the industry, measuring the harm is just as difficult as measuring the benefits. The advice to "just exercise more" may not help, but at least it really can't hurt.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#24

Post by ge96 »

gehsty wrote: post #21
ge96 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that $5K deductible though...

Apologies - one of the very few great things left in UK is the NHS and my diagnosis was free and my prescription is £9/month. I take sertraline (Zoloft in the US I think) and that is cheap - $20/30 month.

I'm not even talking medication, talking about cost of therapy it's like $200 per session sometimes but yeah all depends

I had to pay $3K for an MRI in cash one time, which yeah you get what you pay for but my buddy pays $2.8K/mo in insurance for his family, like that's a big chunk of his monthly pay

Oh I want to be clear no snark towards you this is the cliche topic of healthcare in US

Regarding the topic at hand though, yeah I lift 5 days a week and do a half hour of maximum inclined walk for those days as well. Mental health but also I want to be ripped. Helps my job has a gym and I'm the only one in there in the mornings. We also walk like 2 miles at work, in circles around the parking lot, talking to co-workers 4 days a week.

My main problem is anxiety, like I wish I could walk downtown in a city and do street photography but I fear that someone will ask me for money or get robbed. The funny thing is I'm a big guy, like 6', I bench almost 300 lbs. I'm not like a stick. I have a fear of crowds too I can do shopping but sometimes in like a WalMart that's a lot of people and of course I'm terrible with women, the fear even if I have the bod. I'm just scared of eye contact and low self-esteem even having a six-fig job my self-determined value is whether a woman will say yes to me or not, it's funny. I don't have a fear of speed I can drive 160mph+ on the highway, helps to have a good car.

But for the moment I'm working towards freeing myself from debt and then being able to live a life where I'm not in fear of losing my job. I'm a privileged person, this is brought on by myself eg. dropping $1.2K a night at a strip club or $600 Venmoing a band to play song requests. I'm complaining about therapy cost lmao.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#25

Post by wk_end »

WackyFighter wrote: post #4
cheald wrote: post #2

This is a finding that keeps coming up, and I've certainly found it true in my life, but there's a significant chicken-and-egg problem in that depression frequently precludes the motivation to exercise, and if you don't already have a deeply-disciplined routine to overcome the lack of motivation, people won't do it. Exhortation to develop those good habits in the good times, I suppose.

Much like the sibling comment I started walking around the local park before spending more time hiking. I live semi rurally though and wouldn't want to walk in an urban environment. I normally feel much better after walking and cycling. Also I think doing something repetitive like walking allows you to think, tune out of other things.

Everyone is different, so I say this not to tell you how to feel but just to offer a different perspective:

Walking in urban environments can be its own sort of joy. Cities (well, good ones anyway) are full of life and energy and humanity, have unexpected nooks and crannies, and a rich sense of dynamism and excitement. Even late at night (as long as you're safe), a quiet city can be a source of serenity and melancholic beauty. Writers like Baudelaire and Benjamin described at great lengths the pleasures of flânerie.

Nature is wonderful too, of course! I love a good hike through the forests and mountains...but I also love a good stroll downtown.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#26

Post by Insanity »

cheald wrote: post #2

This is a finding that keeps coming up, and I've certainly found it true in my life, but there's a significant chicken-and-egg problem in that depression frequently precludes the motivation to exercise, and if you don't already have a deeply-disciplined routine to overcome the lack of motivation, people won't do it. Exhortation to develop those good habits in the good times, I suppose.

Nail on the head. I know that exercise will make me feel better, but during a period of depression/grief I could not even get out the house.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#27

Post by stormed »

I decided to go unmedicated from SSRIs/mood stabilizers in 2024 and it changed my life for the better. Prior to stopping, I thought I was physically unhealthy until I found out excessive overheating & exhaustion was a common side effect of Zoloft. Since then, I've lost around 40 pounds and have been able to regularly exercise without issues. My mental health also improved with forcing myself to get vitamin D outside. It can be the simplest of things to improve your life, but it can be easy to forget (especially WFH).

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#28

Post by lowdownbutter »

gehsty wrote: post #21
ge96 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that $5K deductible though...

Apologies - one of the very few great things left in UK is the NHS and my diagnosis was free and my prescription is £9/month. I take sertraline (Zoloft in the US I think) and that is cheap - $20/30 month.

> my diagnosis was free

As long as you don't factor in your taxes.

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#29

Post by abraxas »

HauntingPin wrote: post #5
cheald wrote: post #2

This is a finding that keeps coming up, and I've certainly found it true in my life, but there's a significant chicken-and-egg problem in that depression frequently precludes the motivation to exercise, and if you don't already have a deeply-disciplined routine to overcome the lack of motivation, people won't do it. Exhortation to develop those good habits in the good times, I suppose.

I also question the universality of it. No amount of exercise changed my depression or made life any less miserable. Anti-depressants finally helped me get past the trauma I was unable to properly process otherwise.

And I'm the counter anecdotal case of your anecdotal case.

I have a page long list of failed psychiatric regimens that included drugs alone and drugs combined with talk therapy. None of them effective.

I won't say that I'm cured of depression now or will ever be. But a strict and persistent exercise routine lessened it to the point where I can function day to day. This was never achieved with presrciption drugs or therapy (of which I have developed a dim opinion).

Re: Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression

#30

Post by Jtsummers »

HauntingPin wrote: post #5
cheald wrote: post #2

This is a finding that keeps coming up, and I've certainly found it true in my life, but there's a significant chicken-and-egg problem in that depression frequently precludes the motivation to exercise, and if you don't already have a deeply-disciplined routine to overcome the lack of motivation, people won't do it. Exhortation to develop those good habits in the good times, I suppose.

I also question the universality of it. No amount of exercise changed my depression or made life any less miserable. Anti-depressants finally helped me get past the trauma I was unable to properly process otherwise.

> I also question the universality of it.

The article doesn't claim exercise is a universally effective treatment, so whose statements are you questioning?

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