Physical exercise in the treatment of depression: Should we care?

Abstract

It is well established that physical activity and exercise positively affect physical and mental health. While the application of this knowledge was generalized less than 5 years ago, current research aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on specific fields of psychiatry. Although some progress must still be made on the methodological level, recent studies show the great impact of physical exercise prescription with regard to the management of different psychiatric disorders (major depression, anxiety disorders, alcoholism, bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and schizophrenia). This paper aims to identify an alternative to conventional treatment of depression and to develop specific exercise programs for depressive disorders