Is physical activity really as effective as antidepressants and psychotherapy for treating symptoms of depression and anxiety?
The largest review so far, summing up the results of over 1000 studies (all randomized controlled trials), shows that the effects of physical activity on symptoms of depression and anxiety are similar or even slightly better than the average treatment effects of antidepressants and psychotherapy.
So, whether you are up for walking or talking, it’s possible to get better.
These findings have been around for some time, however, this review highlights that the beneficial effects are observed in all studied populations, across different types of physical activity, across different training intensities and frequencies.
Even a little amount of physical activity shows up to moderate effects on mental health symptoms.
Therefore, the authors suggest that physical activity should be a key treatment component in all clinical populations where symptoms of depression and anxiety are present.
Overall, the authors found that (p. 6):
Higher intensity exercise was associated with greater improvements for depression and anxiety.
Longer duration interventions had smaller effects compared with short and mid-duration, though the longest duration interventions still had positive effects … It is possible that shorter duration interventions are easier for participants to comply with, whereas longer weekly duration interventions are more burdensome and that may be impacting the psychological benefits.
… Larger effect sizes observed in clinical populations may reflect that these populations experience above-average symptoms of depression and anxiety and have low physical activity levels, and, therefore, have a greater scope for improvement compared with non-clinical populations.
All physical activity modes were beneficial, including aerobic, resistance, mixed-mode exercise and yoga. It is likely that the beneficial effects of physical activity on depression and anxiety are due to a combination of various psychological, neurophysiological and social mechanisms.
Different modes of physical activity stimulate different physiological and psychosocial effects, and this was supported by our findings (eg, resistance exercise had the largest effects on depression, while Yoga and other mind–body exercises were most effective for reducing anxiety.
Reference: Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews – Singh and colleagues (2023) – Open access here.
