Chennai:Regular physical activity can lessen depression andrecover us from poor mental health.Depression can have a significant impact on people’s physical health. Ever year nearly 15% of Indian adults are in the need of active interventions for mental health issues.
A quality randomized controlled survey has been done to see of how effective exercise is for treating depression above 18 years of age in 12 states of India. All studies had to include adults with a diagnosis of depression and the physical activity carried out had to fit criteria to ensure that it met with a definition of ‘exercise’.
The survey included 39 studies with a total of 2326 participants in the review. The reviewers noted that the quality of some of the studies was low which limits confidence in the findings. When only high-quality trials were included, exercise had only a minimal effect on mood that was not statistically significant.
The National Mental Health Survey of India says, approximately 1 out of every 20 people in India suffer from depression. Because of the nature of the research, itcannot confirm that only physical activity is the remedy to improved depression or mental health.Because the previous researches into the effects of exercise curing depression have showed up mixed results.
A Cochrane review in 2010 suggested that exercise can reduce symptoms of depression, but the effect was marginal and did not seem to last after participants stopped exercising.
The reviewers recommend that future research should look in more detail at what types of exercise could most benefit people with depression and the number and duration of sessions which are of most benefit.
Pick N Post 