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Summary: Exercise may be
better than Zoloftat
preventing relapses of
depression
A Feeling down? Try
exercising--it might chase
away those blues. Steven
Herman, Ph.D., a Duke
University psychology
professor, studied three
forms of depression
treatment: the
antidepressant Zoloft, a
group exercise program and a
combination of the two. Of
the study's 156
participants, between 60%
and 70% of those in all
three groups recovered after
four months of treatment.
But what's most impressive,
reports Herman in the
journal Psychosomatic
Medicine, is that in a
follow-up study six months
later, members of the
exercise-only group were
significantly less likely to
have relapsed into
depression. "When we
accomplish things on our own
we tend to feel better about
ourselves," Herman explains.
The findings are
particularly uplifting for
people who take medications
that can't be mixed with
antidepressants or those who
simply don't respond to
them. In the end, Herman
doesn't suggest that
exercise replace drugs
altogether in treating
depression. "But studies
increasingly demonstrate
that exercise deserves
respect as a legitimate
treatment alternative," he
says.
Article courtesy of
www.psychologytoday.com
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