Depression

Additional Resources

Supporting interventions for depression

Exercise

  • Exercise has been shown to influence brain serotonin (Dunn, & Dishman, 1991) and may promote increased release of endorphins.
  • Benefits of exercise on anxiety are dependent on the length of individual exercise sessions, and how long one continues with the sessions.
  • Research shows that, for beneficial effect, exercise sessions need to be at least 12 minutes long (Moses, Steptoe, Mathews, & Edwards, 1989), with maximum benefit at 40 minutes per session (Paluska, & Schwenk, 2000)

Further reading

DeBoer, L. B., Powers, M. B., Utschig, A. C., Otto, M. W., & Smits, J. A. (2012). Exploring exercise as an avenue for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 12(8), 1011–1022. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.12.73

Mindfullness

  • Mindfulness meditation involves paying attention to the current moment, focusing on the breath, and bringing one’s awareness to the body.
  • Many studies show benefits of mindfullness and reduction of anxiety, for example:

Further reading

Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Marques, L., Metcalf, C. A., Morris, L. K., Robinaugh, D. J., Worthington, J. J., Pollack, M. H., & Simon, N. M. (2013). Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74(8), 786–792. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.12m08083

Saeed, S. A., Cunningham, K., & Bloch, R. M. (2019). Depression and Anxiety Disorders: Benefits of Exercise, Yoga, and Meditation. American Family Physician, 99(10), 620–627.

How to Meditate with Anxiety. (2019, June 12). Mindful. https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-meditation-anxiety/

Dunn, A. L., & Dishman, R. K. (1991). Exercise and the neurobiology of depression. Exercise and sport sciences reviews, 19, 41–98.

Martinsen, E. W., Hoffart, A., & Solberg, Ø. Y. (1989). Aerobic and non-aerobic forms of exercise in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Stress Medicine, 5(2), 115–120. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2460050209

Moses, J., Steptoe, A., Mathews, A., & Edwards, S. (1989). The effects of exercise training on mental well-being in the normal population: a controlled trial. Journal of psychosomatic research, 33(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(89)90105-0