Research published in Mental Health and Physical Activity finds that just one session of exercise or mind-body exercises can reduce anxiety, increase well-being and decrease bio-markers associated with inflammation and neurogenesis for depressed inpatients. These findings indicate that aerobic exercise and mind-body practices like yoga and mindfulness may be practical interventions for those experiencing severe depression.
Depression is found in all corners of the world, and it is estimated that around 16% of all people will have an experience with depression at some point in their life. Severe depression can be debilitating and so difficult to treat that individuals need to be hospitalized. Most individuals with depression are treated with medications, but finding the proper medication can take time or be less effective than necessary, and other therapeutic interventions are needed.
Both exercise and mind-body work have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other clinical disorders. Gabriela Aquino Torelly and her co-authors were curious if just one season of either exercise or mind-body work would have consequences for anxiety, well-being, and affect. In addition, they hypothesized that inflammatory biomarkers would decrease and biomarkers of neurogenesis would increase. Finally, they sought to examine whether psychological variables and biological variables would be correlated.
Participants in the study were 33 individuals hospitalized for a depressive episode. Each participant was exposed to all three conditions. The conditions included aerobic exercise, a control condition, and a mind-body condition. The control condition was always situated in the middle, but which condition came first was randomized, and there were 48 hours between each experience.
The exercise condition was a 20 minute circuit training including warm up, weights and aerobic exercise. The mind-body condition consisted of 20 minutes of yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation. Finally, the control condition asked participants to “spend time with a coloring book.” Colored pencils and crayons were provided.
After each condition, participants took measures of anxiety, positive and negative affect, and well-being. Blood was also drawn for analysis. The results of this data collection revealed that both exercise and mind-body exercise increased well-being and positive affect and decreased anxiety and negative affect. However, exercise was more successful at increasing well-being, whereas mind-body activities were better at reducing negative affect.
As for biological effects, mind-body activities lowered interleukin-1β, an inflammatory biomarker, and exercise decreased tumor necrosis factor-α, also an anti-inflammatory biomarker.
The study is limited by its small sample size, and the severity of the depressive episode makes it difficult to generalize findings to mild or moderate depression. In addition, the effects may be limited to a short period after the intervention; the study could not determine how long the effect might last. Finally, the control activity of coloring is also used as a therapeutic activity, which may have had consequences for their assessment scores.
The research team feels confident that their study contributes to the search for effective therapies for depression. In their words, “Together these findings support the ability of mind-body activities and exercise to produce acute positive effects for people facing depressive episodes, including patients being treated in an inpatient setting and who have resistant and refractory conditions.”
The study, “Acute effects of mind-body practices and exercise in depressed inpatients: A randomized clinical trial“, was authored by Gabriela Aquino Torelly, Priscila dos Santos Novaka, Giovana Bristotc, Felipe Barreto Schuch, and Marcelo Pio de Almeida Fleck.