Exercise has been found to be effective at combating early symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to a large-scale review and data synthesis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The analysis found that cardio activities including running, swimming, and dancing can all be effective.
Activities in a supervised or group setting could offer the best benefit for people with depression. Shorter programs lasting up to eight weeks and involving lower intensity activity could be the most helpful for those with anxiety. Every type of exercise was examined was found to have been as good as or outperformed medication and talking therapies regardless of age and sex.
As many as a quarter of people globally are believed to be impacted by depression and anxiety. Younger people and women report the highest rates, researchers say. Earlier studies already showed that exercise performs well compared with psychotherapy and medication for reducing symptoms.
But it is still not known how it works across different age groups, levels of intensity or frequency. Previous large-scale reviews focused only on adults or included those with other health conditions which may affect the findings.
The team behind this latest study looked at depression and anxiety across the entire lifespan, also looking at factors including exercise type, duration, frequency, intensity, supervision, and whether it was performed individually or as part of a group, to see whether any of these impacted the results.
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