Treating Depression With a Prescription To Exercise

By Deborah O. Norris

The Mindfulness Center

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Treating Depression With a Prescription To Exercise

Recent research indicates that exercise may be more effective than prescription drugs in treating depression. Reports on the effectiveness of exercise therapy on psychological well-being show promising results; requiring less cost and time commitment than drug therapy. An analysis of 64 studies evaluating the effects of exercise on mental health showed that exercise relieved depression, improved self-esteem and enhanced work behavior
Over 19 million people in the United States are reportedly diagnosed with depression. The signs and symptoms of depression include loss of energy, motivation, zest for life and an overall feeling of worthlessness. Prescription medication and psychotherapy are the most common forms of treatment for depression within the U.S. Annually, over $53 billion is spent in treating depression with prescription medications such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).
The first large scale study to empirically examine the relative benefits of exercise and prescription drug therapy in treating depression was conducted at Duke University Medical Center. This experiment evaluated 156 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Patients were assigned to one of three treatment groups for four months; one group was given the SSRI anti-depressant medication sertraline, one group was prescribed exercise and a third group was prescribed both exercise and sertraline. Patients were prescribed 30 minutes of exercise per day, three times a week.
After four months of treatment, patients in all three groups exhibited significant improvement. However, ten months after therapy was concluded, subjects who had been assigned to the exercise group had significantly lower relapse rates (p = .01) than subjects in the medication group. Ninety-two percent of the patients who had been treated with exercise alone were free of clinical signs of depression. Of those who had received medication alone, only 62% were still symptom-free. Interestingly, of the individuals who received both a prescription for exercise and medication, only 69% were free of symptoms of depression at the 10-month follow up. These results indicate that for individuals with Major Depressive Disorder, exercise therapy is feasible and is associated with significant therapeutic benefit, especially in cases where exercise is continued over time.
Though exercise has proven, through rigorous controlled clinical trials, to be a valid therapeutic approach for the treatment of depression, it is still not indicated as a standard treatment protocol for mental health professionals. Hopefully, with continued research and interest in the therapeutic benefits of exercise, we will see growth in the practice of clinical exercise prescription and we will see better success in the treatment of depression.