New Study Suggests Exercise May Boost Effects Of Therapy For Depression

Jun, 2022 - By WMR

According to a new study, exercising for thirty minutes before weekly therapy session can reduce depression symptom for at least 75 minutes after the workout and could enhance therapy benefits

Many people across the globe suffer from depression and as it is prevalent treatments used for it currently are not effective for several people. Now a team of scientists from the Iowa State University found that single workout for thirty minutes before the weekly therapy session amplifies positive effects of therapy.

For this study, the team recruited 30 adult subjects who were suffering from severe episodes of depression. The team assigned them a complete 30 minutes session, which included either just sitting or cycling with moderate intensity. A week later the team reversed these roles in a second session. The team surveyed these subjects before, after and midway through every session and then at intervals of 24, 50 and 75 minutes after the sessions were completed. In these surveys were based on questions that were designed for measuring their symptoms of depression and cognitive abilities. The data of this survey showed changes in their mood, cognitive functions and ability of deriving pleasure from normal enjoyable activities.

Furthermore, the team noticed improvement in the mood of subjects during the 30 minutes session of exercise and for around 75 minutes after the session. The team also observed that anhedonia (deriving pleasure from normal enjoyable activities) of subjects also improved during this period and it started dropping off at 75 minutes. However, these results were still better compared to the control group. The team further also conducted a pilot study that involved 10 subjects where they were assigned exercise with moderate intensity such as jogging or cycling for 30 minutes and one group was assigned their regular activities. From the overall results of these both studies it was found that a short workout before therapy improved benefits of therapy for people suffering from depression.