There’s tons of evidence, from hundreds of studies with hundreds of thousands of participants, showing that exercise is an effective tool to combat depression and other mental health issues like anxiety. These studies find that it’s at least as good as drugs or therapy, and perhaps even better. It’s now recommended in official guidelines around the world as a stand-alone or secondary treatment. Still, there’s an important caveat to consider: is all this evidence of a connection between exercise and mental health any good?
That’s the question debated in a recent round-table article in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, based on a symposium held at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. Four researchers, led by Patrick O’Connor of the University of Georgia, sift and weigh the various lines of evidence. Their conclusion is mixed: yes, there’s a relationship between exercise and mental health, but its real-world applicability isn’t as clear as you might think.
The Observational Evidence on Exercise and Mental Health
O’Connor and his colleagues assess three main…
