According to a study, running has similar mental health benefits to antidepressants.
Running therapy and antidepressant medication are both successful treatments for patients with depression and anxiety disorders. They could have diverse effects on physical health, though, and they might operate through various pathophysiological processes. This study compared the effects of running therapy to antidepressants on both physical and mental health.
141 individuals with depression and/or anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to receive their preferred 16-week treatment, which was either antidepressant medication (escitalopram or sertraline) or group-based running therapy twice per week, according to a partially randomised patient preference design. Mental (diagnosis status and symptom severity) and physical (metabolic and immunological indicators, weight, lung function, hand grip strength, fitness) health indicators were assessed at baseline (T0) and post-treatment at week 16 (T16). Of the 141 individuals, 45 were given antidepressants, while 96 had running treatment (mean age 38.2 years; 58.2% female). Remission rates at T16 were comparable according to intention-to-treat analyses (antidepressants: 44.8%; running: 43.3%; p =.881). However, there were significant differences between the groups for a number of physical health measures, including weight (d = 0.57; p =.001), waist circumference (d = 0.44; p =.011), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (d = 0.53; p =.002), heart rate (d = 0.36; p =.033), and heart rate variability (d = 0.48; p =.006).
Only a small portion of the individuals agreed to be randomized; as a result, running therapy was more popular and had a bigger sample size. While the therapies had similar impacts on mental health, running therapy beat antidepressants in terms of physical health because both the running therapy group experienced greater improvements and the antidepressant group experienced greater declines.
REFERENCES:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/running-may-offer-mental-health-benefit-similar-to-antidepressants/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36828150/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/running-therapy-may-be-as-beneficial-for-depression-as-antidepressants
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