Exercise as a Treatment for Depression? Yes, it’s a Thing!

Ok, I did LOVE to see this study from the BMJ being talked about on the news today because it’s so important. In short: physical activity can have a powerful positive effect on our mental health, in particular depression.

However, it’s important to note that THIS ISN’T NEW! Yes, we really knew alot of this already. The study from the BMJ that everyone is talking about is a “meta-analysis”. That means that researchers studied data from 218 other studies that were already done.

What did they find?

“Exercise is an effective treatment for depression, with walking or jogging, yoga, and strength training more effective than other exercises, particularly when intense. Yoga and strength training were well tolerated compared with other treatments. Exercise appeared equally effective for people with and without comorbidities and with different baseline levels of depression. To mitigate expectancy effects, future studies could aim to blind participants and staff. These forms of exercise could be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as core treatments for depression.”

What was good about the news coverage? Highlighting that whole-person approaches to depression are important!

What was bad about the news coverage? Lots of references to the NHS initiatives — and not much talked about how there are physicians, allied health professionals, and programmes in Ireland who have been promoting and advocating for this already!

What does this mean? It’s a big topic for another day, but this is where patients suffer in a primary care crisis. It takes time to work with a patient to create a successfuhttps://rcsi.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=cde3cde1-8f7a-4b4f-b618-afe8009f26e3l and sustainable physical activity programme. And time is one thing that no one has in a doctor shortage.

If you’re a registered healthcare professional and don’t feel confident in your skills to prescribe exercise? You’re in luck! There is still time to register for upcoming “Physical Activity and Health Behaviour Change in Clinical Populations” module Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The start date has been moved back to 7 March 2024; module is hybrid ( only 3 in-person days over the 14 weeks. Check out more details here or get in touch through the practice – happy to talk about the module!

#depression #physicalactivity #doctorpatient #lifestylemedicine