[hellofunk]

> I want to start doing some physical activities soon, but that's not going to cause me to be less depressed

How do you know?

I think you are being unfair to yourself to so easily dismiss what exercise can do for your moods. When I'm feeling down, getting my heart rate up for 45 minutes totally turns around the day. I don't know the exact reason, maybe all the rapid blood flow or found energy, whatever it is, it is not a reaction I get from anything else.

An article was shared here recently how so many great artists and scientists in the past were slaves to a ritual of long stretches of physical activity every day. It really changes how your brain works.

[DanBC]

> How do you know?

Because researchers keep failing to find evidence of effectiveness.

[hellofunk]

Mayo Clinic is a respected place, and they seem to think there is a link:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-...

Even if there was no evidence, surely the testimonies of many others right here on this page would at least be worth the possibility that it could be effective.

[DanBC]

Here's a well run meta analysis.

http://www.cochrane.org/CD004366/DEPRESSN_exercise-for-depre...

> Exercise is moderately more effective than no therapy for reducing symptoms of depression.

[...]

> The reviewers also note that when only high-quality studies were included, the difference between exercise and no therapy is less conclusive.

[...]

> The evidence about whether exercise for depression improves quality of life is inconclusive.

Since depression is a potentially fatal illness it's important to stick to evidence based treatments.

[hellofunk]

No one is suggesting that exercise replace any other treatment. Is that the impression you were getting? But because it has in fact helped at least some people, it seems limiting for any person to disqualify that for themselves without a try.

[Fnoord]

I'm a proponent of light daily exercise (my government recommends 21 min a day light exercise and twice a week heavy exercise [1]), but this argument doesn't hold water. There are also people who claim to benefit from homeopathy (a pseudoscience). Is their anecdotal evidence worth as much as ours?

[1] To be precise: 150 min a week of medium movement (walking, cycling), twice a week heavy movement (running, soccer aka football), and avoid sitting still [2]. Also, the difference between 0 and 15 min of exercise is larger than 15 and 30 min. That's why it feels so good to start with exercises and only do it very little.

[2] https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/nl/taak-werkwijze/werkterrein...

[hellofunk]

That's a strange comparison. Nearly every doctor in existence recommends exercise for a wide variety of reasons. How many recommend homeopathy? It's more than a little surprising to me to see several people in this thread who are explicitly skeptical about the value and potential effects of exercise.

I just think it would be unfair for someone to read these comments and then think, "ah, see, there is no reason I should try regularly exercising," and give up before they have started. Do you think that is a good outcome? Even you said you are a proponent of exercise.