Episode #122. Power of Sweat. Physical activity is 1.5x more effective than medications and counselling for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress. Dr Ben Singh, Research Fellow, UniSA.

Why don't we want to use the cheapest tool known to prevent and improve mental health disorders?

Dr Ben Singh is a research fellow at the University of South Australia and recently published a paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, that is the most comprehensive to date, encompassing 97 reviews, 1039 trials and 128,119 participants. It shows that physical activity is 1.5x more effective than medications and counselling and is extremely beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distress. 

"Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across a wide range of adult populations, including the general population, people with diagnosed mental health disorders and people with chronic disease. Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress"

The reality, according to the World Health Organization, one in every eight people worldwide (970 million people) lives with a mental disorder. Poor mental health costs the world economy approximately $2.5 trillion each year, a cost projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030. In Australia, an estimated one in five people (aged 16-85) have experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months. 

Why is this not a public health campaign to educate about the health benefits of exercise in the community?

Dr Ben Singh are calling for exercise to be a mainstay approach for managing depression as a new study shows that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than counselling or the leading medications. They have found that all types of physical activity (PA) and exercise are beneficial, including aerobic exercises such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and yoga. 
Start small, like walking around the house and standing instead of sitting. Move move move. It has been shown that 150 mins a week are optimal. Or around 30 mins a day for 5 days. "Despite the evidence for the benefits of PA, it has not been widely adopted therapeutically. Patient resistance, the difficulty of prescribing and monitoring PA in clinical settings, as well as the huge volume of largely incommensurable studies have probably impeded a wider take-up in practice" Dr Singh.

It is hard to start something new, like exercising. 

"Physical activity is known to help improve mental health. Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment. Our review shows that physical activity interventions can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in all clinical populations, with some groups showing even greater signs of improvement. Higher intensity exercise had greater improvements for depression and anxiety, while longer durations had smaller effects when compared to short and mid-duration bursts. We also found that all types of physical activity and exercise were beneficial, including aerobic exercise such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and yoga.

Importantly, the research shows that it doesn't take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health."

Dr Ben Singh has PhD in physical activity and public health and is currently a research fellow at the University of South Australia. His research focuses on evaluating the physical and mental benefits of exercise in various populations, with a background in exercise for individuals with cancer.

https://people.unisa.edu.au/Ben.Singh

Link to the paper here.
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/02/bjsports-2022-106195