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Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

bmj.com

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Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#21

Post by dlss »

DanBC wrote: post #17

The title of this post does not match the title of the paper. The report does not say "exercise does not make you less depressed". The report mentions some of the weaknesses; some comments to the article do a good job at pointing out other weaknesses. Exercise is not just pushed at people with depression to treat that depression; it's to help with other stuff too:- * medication side effects (sometimes include weight…

The title matches the results though...

"Results: There was no evidence that participants offered the physical activity intervention reported improvement in mood by the four month follow-up point compared with those in the usual care group; adjusted between group difference in mean Beck depression inventory score −0.54 (95% confidence interval −3.06 to 1.99; P=0.68). Similarly, there was no evidence that the intervention group reported a change in mood by the eight and 12 month follow-up points. Nor was there evidence that the intervention reduced antidepressant use compared with usual care (adjusted odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.19 to 2.06; P=0.44) over the duration of the trial. However, participants allocated to the intervention group reported more physical activity during the follow-up period than those allocated to the usual care group (adjusted odds ratio 2.27, 95% confidence interval 1.32 to 3.89; P=0.003)."

re exercise not being perscribed for depression. Current belief in Positive Pyschology circles (the founder of which invented the above mentioned Beck depression inventory) includes exercise acting as a treatment for depression.

"Besides training new habits and antidepressants, getting better exercise and a healthier diet have proven to have strong effects on mood. In fact, exercise is sometimes called the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.[55][56]" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#22

Post by egypturnash »

Anecdata: Earlier this year, I was exercising regularly. I had a lot of energy and felt great about my body and my brain.

Some stuff happened that made me stop exercising. It's been several months. I am generally kind of mopey, lethargic, and unhappy with myself. And putting on weight, which only makes me grumpier.

YMMV.

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#23

Post by xiaoma »

dlss wrote: post #21
DanBC wrote: post #17

The title of this post does not match the title of the paper. The report does not say "exercise does not make you less depressed". The report mentions some of the weaknesses; some comments to the article do a good job at pointing out other weaknesses. Exercise is not just pushed at people with depression to treat that depression; it's to help with other stuff too:- * medication side effects (sometimes include weight…

The title matches the results though... "Results: There was no evidence that participants offered the physical activity intervention reported improvement in mood by the four month follow-up point compared with those in the usual care group; adjusted between group difference in mean Beck depression inventory score −0.54 (95% confidence interval −3.06 to 1.99; P=0.68). Similarly, there was no evidence that the interven…

>* The title matches the results though...*

And it disagrees with the results of many, many other studies, some of which even quantify the exercise done instead of just relying on self-reported number of days of exercise.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=exercise+and+depression&...

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#25

Post by mattmcknight »

dlss wrote: post #21
DanBC wrote: post #17

The title of this post does not match the title of the paper. The report does not say "exercise does not make you less depressed". The report mentions some of the weaknesses; some comments to the article do a good job at pointing out other weaknesses. Exercise is not just pushed at people with depression to treat that depression; it's to help with other stuff too:- * medication side effects (sometimes include weight…

The title matches the results though... "Results: There was no evidence that participants offered the physical activity intervention reported improvement in mood by the four month follow-up point compared with those in the usual care group; adjusted between group difference in mean Beck depression inventory score −0.54 (95% confidence interval −3.06 to 1.99; P=0.68). Similarly, there was no evidence that the interven…

It doesn't match the results though. The title is it doesn't work for "you". "You" may not be above 14 on the depression scale. "You" may get more than three sessions with a trainer. "You" may be in the part of the sample that did improve their mood.

It's always a stretch to over-generalize to "everyone", or the more annoying "you", from the results of a study when the effect on all people is not going to be the same.

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#26

Post by sliverstorm »

Xcelerate wrote: post #15
cglace wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I always feel great after a heavy set of power cleans or deadlift.

Interesting; I usually feel tired after a bunch of weight-lifting but invigorated after a long hard run.

The key, I find, is that you have to be on a schedule of lifting; for the first few times, you feel pretty crummy after.

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#27

Post by jackylee0424 »

fbuilesv wrote: post #14
Lagged2Death wrote: post #7

Would anyone be surprised to find out that externally facilitated exercise, as offered in the study, has different emotional effects than self-motivated exercise?

Yes! Common knowledge says that exercise helps you fight depression. If we see that some class of exercise is not as effective as another one (or is not effective at all) then we can start to ask ourselves how they differ. I think you imply in your comment that "self-motivated exercise" is better than "externally facilitated". If that is true then we can start worrying less about selling the idea of exercising and mo…

http://curetogether.com/blog/2011/05/03/23-surprisingly-effe... I'm not using the curetogether survey to argue against the results from a peer-reviewed scientific study. But, if you look at the top-right corner, I think the survey "kinda" reveals "self-motivation" played a big part in fighting against depression.

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#28

Post by token78 »

In my own experience, casual or minimal exercise has done little to affect my mood and since my early twenties depressive periods have been a very real problem, even effecting my employment at one point.

But going hard, and really pushing my body and pushing myself beyond my preconceived limits has done wonders. There have been times when getting that "runner's high" feeling has completely sidelined the depressive state I've been in. When it happens, I'm still astonished at how much that endorphin release can really make a difference to my mental well being. I realise this is all only anecdotal, with a sample size of one! But I believe runner's high is a recognised phenomenon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphin#Runner.27s_high

Re: Exercise Does Not Make You Less Depressed

#29

Post by niels_olson »

I almost wonder if the authors didn't read the analytic-rheumination hypothesis. Adding another thing to a depressed person's plate, and then hounding them when they don't do it, is exactly what they don't need.

> The addition of a facilitated physical activity intervention to usual care did not improve depression outcome or reduce use of antidepressants compared with usual care alone.

I wonder, did they think this was a good idea, or did they see no other way for the clinician to increase the incentive to do physical activity?

Any depressed entrepreneur out there: if you're thinking about exercise, do it! Outdoors if you can, but by any means, listen to Nike: just do it!

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