Running therapy may be as beneficial for depression as antidepressants

ISLAMABAD: Many people experience depression and sometimes it is situational or mild which may not require treatment.

However other people experience depression to a more severe degree.

In the case of people with clinical depression treatments that include psychological therapy and or specific medications may be appropriate.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness 8.3% of adults in the United States experience a major depressive episode every year. Additionally the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Trusted Source (CDC) report that 13.2% of adults take an antidepressant.

Since depression is so prevalent scientists are interested in improving treatments. Researchers in Amsterdam wondered whether running could be as beneficial as taking an antidepressant.

To do this the researchers recruited more than 100 people to participate in a study that compared the effects of running and antidepressants on improving depression and anxiety symptoms. Each group followed 16 week regimens of either participating in running therapy or taking an antidepressant.

After 16 weeks the researchers found that both groups had similar improvements in their symptoms.

These findings were presented at the ECNP Congress in Barcelona Spain and appear in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Depression and anxiety are both common mental health issues in the U.S. In addition to the impact these issues have on someone s mental well being they can affect physical health.

Additionally the American Heart AssociationTrusted Source reports that over time chronic depression can lead to heart disease because of higher levels of cortisol.

The impacts on both mental and physical health make treating ongoing depression of utmost importance. Many doctors prescribe medications from antidepressant classes such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants.

Treating depression with medications is not the only option though. Increasing physical activity can be beneficial by increasing endorphins a chemical the body produces that boosts the mood.

With both the pharmacological treatment of depression and the fact that physical activity boosts endorphins in mind the researchers in the current study wonder whether running therapy could be as beneficial as using an antidepressant.

The researchers recruited 141 participants with either depression or anxiety disorder. They gave the participants the option to take either an antidepressant the SSRIs escitalopram or sertraline or participate in a running group two to three times per week.

The participants had to agree to provide blood samples undergo a psychiatric evaluation and complete self evaluations to assess their mental states. The mean age of the participants was 38.2 years and 58.2% of the group were females.

Most participants chose running and if a participant did not have a preference the researchers assigned them to a group. Overall the running therapy group had 96 participants and the antidepressant group had 45 participants.

The running group participants had to attend two or three running sessions that lasted 45 minutes each week. The researchers expected them to complete at least 70% of the sessions and participants wore heart rate monitors during running sessions so researchers could track their participation level and other data.

The researchers prescribed escitalopram (Lexapro) to the antidepressant group but if they found it ineffective or participants did not tolerate it well they switched to sertraline (Zoloft).

Of the participants 82.2% of the people in the antidepressant group adhered to the medication protocol while only 52.1% of people in the running therapy group completed the minimum required exercise sessions.

Regardless of which treatment plan people participated in both groups saw improvements in mental health overall.