[Kyrztyn]

This study was flawed from the start. They asked people if they were ever “diagnosed” with depression when there is no clear cause of depression. Depression can be lifelong, short term situational, caused by drugs, etc.

It also relied on self reported physical activity! Ha!

It is worthless to extract anything regarding mental heath and exercise from this study.

[markroseman]

I'd consider the value to be motivational ammunition for an intervention that generally has few downsides and multiple possible benefits for the person affected. Your point about stigma does counterbalance that somewhat.

In other words, would I put the overview on the coffee table in my wife's office (she's a psychiatrist) for her patients to see? Yes.

[Kyrztyn]

They did not establish causality in the study, yet you would put it out for sick people already stigmatized and thinking they are “lazy”, “just need to get out of bed”, etc as another burden for them to carry?

Are you a sadist?

Let me give you a personal anecdote. I suffered depression and anxiety and fatigue for years. I tried to be active but it made me feel worse. Turns out I had late onset partial biotinidase deficiency. I take biotin, my depression and anxiety are gone and now I can work out like a normal person.

What good does this study do for people like me and the probably hundreds of thousands of people like me? I would in fact it harms people like me because it lays a simple cure over a complex and diverse issue.

[markroseman]

In this or anything else, exercise isn't suggested as a cure.

Almost without exception, the people she sees are looking for ways to help move themselves forward. By the time they get here, they realize (and it's part of the education that goes with the practice) that mental illness is extremely complex, not every treatment helps everyone, and there's no single magic bullet. And yes, serious metabolic workups are a big part of the practice.

So while I appreciate your perspective, I take issue with the claim that (in this context) it is suggesting laziness as a cause for their illness, or sadism on my part.

[Kyrztyn]

I’d be interested if your wife tests for Biotinidase Deficiency...? There are no “serious metabolic work ups” for mental health. Sure, they test thyroid, maybe iron and B12 if you press them. But beyond that?

I am telling you, as a person who suffered from suicidal depression, that seeing a pamphlet like that in the past would make me feel worse, not better. But why listen to me? I am only the patient.