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Its official – Exercise can beat depression


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In a landmark study,  small amounts of exercise was proven to protect against depression, with  health benefits seen across age and gender.  Levels of exercise and symptoms of depression and anxiety were  monitored over 11 years among almost 34000 Norwegian adults. Data from the Health Study of Nord-Trondelag County (HUNT study) , one of the largest and most comprehensive population-based health surveys ever undertaken was used to obtain these results. The HADS (Hospital anxiety and depression scale) was utilized for the study.

The result

“Just one hour of exercise per week, could reduce the number of depressed people by 12%”

Professor Samuel Harvey from Black Dog Institute reports that this was the first ever study to quantify the effects of exercise on depression, even an hour of exercise per week delivered significant protection against depression. Integrating exercise into  mental health plans and  public health campaigns can possibly protect against a few mental illnesses. If we could  increase the  physical activity of the entire population by even small amount,  we could potentially work wonders.

Exercise prevents depression.

 

 

People who reported doing no exercise at all   increased their chance of developing depression by a overwhelming 44% when compared to those who exercised a couple of hours a week. It was surprising to note that this advantage did not carry over to the development of anxiety disorders.

We Indians often have difficulty understanding the concept of exercise, the first answer I get from people would be “I already do a lot of work in the house, do i have to exercise?”.

Yup, you do !

The hormonal changes that accompany exercise (growth hormone and testosterone), the neurotransmitter and endorphin release (serotonin, dopamine, nor-adrenaline) do not occur while you spend the running around for work. Most people who live in Indian cities lead a sedentary life, could this be the reason why mental illness is slightly more prevalent here ? Exercise has proven physical and mental health benefits, now that you know exercise prevents depression a couple of hours a week is not asking for much is it. 

 

 

Ref

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/

For the Treatment of depression in Chennai visit the vivid mind clinic.