The Movement Makes the Mood
Clinical interventions to address depression and anxiety abound, so why start with movement? As a passionate advocate for the anti-depressant power of exercise, I have a list of reasons why I believe it to be a critical starting point for addressing mood symptoms.
1. Most people are not getting enough exercise. Current guidelines recommend 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week for adults. A recent CDC analysis indicated that only 28% of adults met minimum standards for exercise.
2. People recognize the benefits of exercise and want to exercise more. Unlike many other behavioral interventions that are poorly understood, there is a general understanding of the value of exercise as a health intervention.
3. Exercise provides an immediate benefit to mood. Within five minutes of initiating exercise there is a mood enhancement effect.
4. Exercise effects are comparable to medications for individuals with major depressive disorder. In fact, publication bias may have led to underestimates of the impact of exercise on depression.
5. Exercise supports improved sleep, even when it is performed in the evening.
6. Exercise appears to improve working memory in adults with depression, indicating that it impacts not just mood and sleep but also the cognitive function of depressed individuals.
7. Exercise is a low risk intervention that reinforces an internal locus of control for depressed and anxious individuals.
8. Exercise changes the brain, with increases in cortical thickness in core brain regions associated with depression. Exercise modulates brain serotonin and norepinephrine levels, as well as impacting brain-derived neurotrophic factor and impacting inflammation. However, the mechanism by which exercise impacts depression is complex and not fully understood.
9. Exercise is joyful and emphasize the critical point that we humans are more than our mind, our thoughts and our mood.
10. Exercise can safely be used as an adjunctive intervention to enhance existing depression treatment that might include pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.
As with any new practice, it is incumbent upon each of us to start where we are, moving in ways that feel safe and nutritious for our personal physiology. Movement makes the mood, start today.