Reason #999 to Endorse Exercise: Mental Health Benefits
With rare exception, advocacy for exercise is warranted. Indeed, several of the most problematic public health issues our nation faces today (diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis) could be ameliorated by exercise. Although most often studied for its metabolic effects, this systematic review and meta-analysis by Rosenbaum et al has, instead, evaluated the impact of exercise on persons with mental health issues such as depression and schizophrenia.
Twenty different trials reported the impact of exercise upon depression symptoms. None of the studies reported a detrimental effect, and the overall favorable effect size was large (effect size = 0.84, with > 0.8 being large). Similarly, the effect size of exercise upon schizophrenia symptoms was large, even though the effect size upon anthropomorphic outcomes (e.g., BMI) was not large.
A variety of different exercise interventions were studied, with a slightly greater effect size among programs that employed aerobic training. Nonetheless, diverse exercise modalities (e.g., tai chi, dance therapy, yoga, aquatic exercise, resistance exercise) all showed at least a favorable trend towards benefit. Clinicians would be wise to more often incorporate an exercise component to the therapeutic regimen for mental health disorders.
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