A recent research study has again showed that exercise is as good as a popular antidepressant drug. The study was published in the September 2007 issue of Psychosomatic Medicine. In the 16-week study 202 patients were randomly divided into 4 groups:
-one group received the antidepressant Zoloft -a second group exercised in supervised group sessions -a third group exercised in the same manner, but by themselves at home, and -a fourth group received a dummy, placebo pill.
Statistically, both exercise groups and the group receiving Zoloft improved by the same amount. Some patients (30%) taking the placebo improved, but not as many in the other groups.
Both exercising groups followed the same work-out routine: 45-minute sessions 3 times per week. After a 10 minute warm-up, they tried to keep their heart rate between 70-85% of their maximums for 30 minutes. At the end of this aerobic portion, they did a 5 minute cool-down. This workout is a bit more then some exercise experts suggest. Generally, everyone is told to maintain their hearts beating at 50-70% maximum.
It was found that a few more patients improved with the supervised training (45% vs. 40%). An examination of the data demonstrated that the supervised individuals worked out a little harder. That is they held their heart rates in the target range for longer periods. Also, the supervised group achieved a higher level of fitness as measured by 2 tests of physical condition. That would make sense; harder work results in better conditioning. On the surface, it appears that the harder one exercises, the greater the chance depression symptoms will abate. However, the size of the groups was not sufficient to statistically prove this observation. Another study from 2005 (1) suggested that more difficult training gives more relief from depression.
It was hopeful to note that exercise even worked for more severe depression and for some that have had a history of recurrent depression. In the past, some experts have suggested that only medication could help those with severe depression. Based on this study, depressed people canŐt really say that exercise will not help them because they are too depressed. The participants were really depressed; they did not just say they were depressed to get into the study. All were evaluated by a licensed clinical psychologist.
The medicated group's members were often seen by a psychiatrist, instead of just being given a bottle of pills. Due to this frequent contact with a psychiatrist, the results for the medicated group may be somewhat better than what is displayed in real life, where there may be very minimal contact with a doctor after a patient receives a prescription.
The numbers generated by this study reveal much information that most of the public are ignorant about. Less than half (47%) of the patients were helped out of depression by Zoloft. In other words, Zoloft did not lift most people out of depression. Probably due to the heavy advertising, many believe that Zoloft and other antidepressants cause depression to vanish in everyone. Also, as is shown by many other studies, large number of people just recover from depression on their own. In this study 30% of the placebo group got better. People in the placebo group were given a dummy pill by a doctor who did not know which pills were Zoloft and which were the placebo (dummy) pills. In other studies (2,3,4) this placebo effect ranged from 30-50%. There are some studies where the placebo group benefited more than the group receiving the antidepressant.
Some people for various reasons do not want to take medication for depression. This study and others are showing exercise as an effective alternative. Besides getting healthier mentally, people can improve their physical health with exercise.
References
1. Dunn, AL, Trivedi, MH, Kempert, JB, Clark, CG, Chambliss, OH. 2005. Exercise treatment for depression: efficacy and dose response. Am J. Prev Med 28:1-8.
2. Trivedi, MH, Rush, H. 1994. Does a placebo run-in or a placebo treatment cell affect the efficacy of antidepressant medications? Neuropsychopharmacology. 11:33-43.
3. Brown, WA. 1994. Placebo as a treatment for depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 10:265-269.
4. Kahn, A, Kolts, RL, Rapaport, MH, Krishnan, KRR, Brodhead, AE, Brown, WA. 2005. Magnitude of placebo response and drug-placebo differences across psychiatric disorders. Psychol Med, 35:743-749.
Last upgrade November 2007