ExerciseasanAntidepressant

Whatdoesitmeantobehappy?Thismaybeoneofthemostopen
endedquestionstoexplorebecausehappinessisdefinedand
experienceddifferentlybyeachindividual.InCoughlin's"Got
Happiness?"hearticulatesonemeasurementofhappinesswhichis
derivedfromGallupHealthwaysWellBeingIndex.Thisindex
testshappinessinsixareasofoneslifewheretheyshouldfeel
satisfied:emotionalhealth,physicalhealth,healthybehaviors,
workenvironment,basicaccess,andlifesatisfaction(Coughlin).

http://www.visitmysmokies.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/01/Thesunpeekingthroughthetreesinthe
woodsoftheSmokyMountains.jpg

Inthisblog,Iamgoingtofocusontwoofthecategorieswithinthe
Index:physicalandmentalhealth.Frommypersonalexperience
withdepressioninbothhighschoolandcollege,Icanmakethe
claimthathappinessanddepressionoftendonotequate.WhenI
feeloverwhelmedbymymentalillness,theaspectthatdragsme
intoadeeperholeismyinabilitytofeelhappydoingactivitiesthat
typicallybringmegreatjoy.Becauseoftheseslumps,Ivetried
outdifferentmethodsinhopesofreducingmydepressive
symptomssuchasmeditation,acupuncture,andtakingvarious
vitamins.Butfrommyresearch,itseemsasthoughregular
exercisemaybethemosteffectivehelp.

Forawhilenow,oursocietyhasbeenawareofthepositiveeffects
ofexerciseforoneswellbeing.Notonlyisitbeneficialtothe
physique,butalsoduringexercise,thebrainreleasesendorphins,
whichasweknowmakepeoplehappy.Sowearecognisantthat
exerciseisgoodforus,butinwhatwayscanexercisealterourlife
whileaffectedbydepression?
In2006,TartakovskyarticulatedtheAmericanCollegeHealth
AssociationSurvey'sreportthat45%ofwomenand36%ofmen
weresooverwhelmedbydepressionthatitwasdifficultto
function(Tartakovsky).Thisstatisticwasreported11yearsago
whenthestigmaonmentalhealthwasevenworsethanitisnow,
meaningthereweremostlikelymoreexistingcasesthatwere
neverreported.Sohowcanwehelpthesestudentsenjoytheir
collegeexperiencesandnotfeelparalyzedbymentalillness?One
ofthegreatestprovensolutionsisexercise.InMarthaAnn
Ruetersreportsonthepositiveeffectsofspecificallyrunningto
helpthosewhoareclinicallydepressed,sheclaimsthatexercise
canfunctioninanequivalentwaytoantidepressants(Rueter,5).
Soletsexplorethisidea.
https://withoutstress.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/02/exercise.jpg

Variousstudieshaveproventhepositiveeffectsofexerciseon
depression.InRuetersstudy,participantswererecruitedwhohad
beendiagnosedashavingmoderatedepression.Inthisobservation,
halfoftheparticipantswererandomlyselectedtoengageinboth
runningtherapyandcounselingtherapyfortenweeksandtheother
onlyusedcounselingtherapy(Rueter,4).Basedonthecounselor's
reports,itwasevidentthatthosewhohadthecombinationof
runningandcounselingtherapyhadfewerandreduceddepressive
symptoms(Rueter,6).Therefore,Reutermakestheclaimthat
exercisecanactasanantidepressantbecauseitcanhelpstabilize
onesmood,butitdoesnotassistinsolvingproblems.Itis
importanttomakethisdistinctionbecausetalkingthrough
problemsintherapycanbeverybeneficialinitsuniqueway.
InOttoandSmitsbookExerciseforMoodandAnxiety,theauthors
maketheequivalentclaimthatexercisecanfunctionasan
antidepressant.Theystatethatinadditiontoactingasamood
stabilizer,studieshaveproventhatexerciseisalsolinkedtoless
angerandcynicaldistrust,aswellastostrongerfeelingsofsocial
integration(Otto,Smits,8).Fromthisstatement,theyexpressthat
exercisecanactivatestrongerconnectionswithpeople.Imsure
thatothercollegestudentswillagreewithmewhenIpointoutthat
collegecanbeanextremelylonelyplace.Especiallyinthe
beginning,IfeltasthoughIwassurroundedbysomanypeople,
butstillfeltisolatedandalonebecauseIdidntknowthemand
theydidntknowme.Althoughitwasexcitingtomeetsomany
newpeople,thesurfacelevelconversationsoforientationweekgot
oldprettyquickly.Thesocialbenefitsofexercisestoodouttome,
asitwassomethingIhadneverthoughtofbefore.

https://americanhiking.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/03/P1010042.jpg

Incorporatingexerciseintoyourschedulecanbephysically,
mentally,andsociallybeneficialtoyourhealth,butitisimportant
tonotuseexerciseasasubstitutetocounselingwhereyoucan
discusswhatisgoingoninyourlife.NowIunderstandthatoneor
twostudiesmaynotconvinceyoutohitthegymeveryday,lets
lookatmoreevidence.

Anotherstudythatdisplaysthebenefitsofexerciseondepression
wasdonebyagroupoffourPhDprofessionals.Theyobserved
over1,000participantsfortwentyyearswhotrackedtheirdaily
activityanddepressivesymptoms.Afteranalyzingthegreat
amountofdata,itwasevidentthatthosewhoweremoreactiveon
aregularbasishadreduceddepressivesymptoms,evenifitwas
veryleisureactivity.Specifically,menwhoengagedinregular
exercisereportedlessinsomnia,fatigability,andsuicidalthoughts.
Additionally,theregularlyactivewomenreportedlessirrational
andexcessiveguiltandthoughtsofdeath.(McKercher,Patton,
Schmidt,Venn).Theseresultsdisplayspecificdepressive
symptomsthatmaybereducedduetoexercise.Keepinmindthat
thiscouldvarygreatlyforpeopleastheyexperiencedepression
differently.

Iwouldliketopointoutthatthereisagreatamountofvariability
withintheseclaims.Depressionmanifestsitselfdifferentlyfor
peopleandtheimpactsofexercisevarypersontoperson.Exercise
isuniversallybeneficialifonesbodyisphysicallyable,butmaybe
onetypeofworkoutisbestforyou.Similartotheambiguityof
happiness,regularactivitymeanssomethingdifferentforeach
person;forreference,mostofthereportsconsideredregular
exerciseandactivitytobeatleastthreetimesaweekformorethan
twentyminutes.Iknowthatexercisingcanfeellikeahugeburden,
soIrecommendtryingoutdifferentworkoutstoseewhatyou
enjoymost.Sogetoutside,runtoclearyourmind,relaxwitha
yogaclass,hiketoenjoynature,andbethebest,healthiestversion
ofyourself!
 https://wayofgray.com/howifoundmypersonalpathtoenlightenmentandbliss2/

QuestionsforFurtherResearch:

Inwhatwaysdoesrunningpositivelyimpactdepressioncompared
tootherformsofexercise?
Ifany,whichsymptomsofdepressioncannotbehelpedthrough
exercise?
Doanyformsofexercisenegativelyimpactmentalillnessornot
haveanyparticulareffect?
Doesoutdoorexercisehelpsymptomsmorethanindoorexercise
duetoVitaminCintake?

SuggestedReadings:

Coughlin,JosephF."GotHappiness?WhereMarketingMeetsthe
ScienceofWellBeing."TheHuffingtonPost.
TheHuffingtonPost.com,10Feb.2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josephfcoughlin/gothappiness
wheremarke_b_1262223.html

McKercher,Charlotte,GeorgePatton,MichaelSchmidt,and
AlisonVenn."PhysicalActivityandDepressionSymptomProfiles
inYoungMenandWomenWithMajorDepression."Ovid:Login
Failure.N.p.,n.d.,20Jan.2013.
http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com/sp3.24.1b/ovidweb.cgi?
QS2=434f4e1a73d37e8cc073476c0173649e038411e870aaefaf9c977ad5fb67bdc7
345597d10eb3ed55addfad1b1592b45e22fead557eb2b9ba287e9cff2052364cd0665
321af636efde8e5b535f5c0351a24bc99d12dcbcaf4d6970a5414218dd1923816ec90
3ecd13acc0edcbfdb4119368f14780bc2e1e3313d7eb25b695750491932486500e0b
70178563414bd61c034605244e201cbad974e0a437bc413bd50d042034655529f22
00ef71f4efaa7e54a1a1dfa90af756eec45e9001021f274a1799645c62e6d018a560e1
7080f1e57c5d2ac0325e81e796608ec63a54dcf976c6abb1fbeff39e2c1f2eb71e5aaf
df6cc113adde6e199d5e9a8c46038578210e341a36b3e7f811a

North,Christian,PennyMcCullagh,andZungVuTran."Effectof
ExerciseonDepression.:ExerciseandSportSciencesReviews."
LWW.N.p.,n.d.

Otto,MichaelW.,andJasperA.J.Smits.ExerciseforMoodand
Anxiety:ProvenStrategiesforOvercomingDepressionand
EnhancingWellBeing.NewYork,NY:OxfordUPress,2011.
Print.

Rueter,MarthaAnn."TheEffectsofRunningonIndividualsWho
AreClinicallyDepressed."ERICEducationResources
InformationCenter.N.p.,02Sept.1980.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED198413.pdf

Small,Gary."CanExerciseCureDepression?"ASEPsExercise
MedicineTextforExercisePhysiologists(2016)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain
bootcamp/201009/canexercisecuredepression

Tartakovsky,Margarita."DepressionandAnxietyAmongCollege
Students."PsychCentral.N.p.,17July2016.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/depressionandanxietyamong
collegestudents/