Can exercise really help depression?
Exercise is a real treatment for depression, not just a lifestyle tip. For mild to moderate depression, regular aerobic exercise performs comparably to medication in trials. It also adds to any other treatment. Strength training helps too. The dose that shows results is roughly 150 minutes a week, but benefits start far lower.
The catch is that depression attacks the starting. Shrink the entry: ten minutes of walking counts, done beats optimal, and company helps.
Exercise complements rather than replaces professional care in serious depression, and stopping prescribed antidepressants is a decision made with the prescriber, never alone. For hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, seek help now, not a training plan.
Source: NHS, depression in adults
See a doctor promptly if
- Any thoughts of suicide, of being better off dead, or of harming yourself. Call or text 988 in the US, any hour, free
- Feeling unable to keep yourself safe, or making any preparation to act on such thoughts. Go to an emergency department or call your local emergency number (911 in the US)
- Being unable to eat, drink, get out of bed or care for yourself for days
- Hearing voices, or fixed beliefs that others say are not real, alongside low mood
- A sudden switch to unusually high energy, little need for sleep and racing ideas. This needs prompt medical review
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a fitness tracker
Step count and resting heart rate are the two numbers that matter, and any major-brand band tracks both well. You do not need the expensive model to walk more.
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