A recent study confirms that physically active people are less likely to suffer from depression. Moreover, exercise can help improve the mood of those who are already depressed. But the difficulty is that people who are depressed do not want to play sports at all.
It seems clear that physical activity improves mood. But to prove this statement by scientific methods is quite problematic. This is due to the fact that depressed patients do not want to take part in any activity. The desire to exercise may indicate that depression has begun to recede for other, independent reasons. The new study is based on data on more than 11,000 people who were born in 1958 in the UK. Scientists assessed depressive symptoms, including insomnia, fatigue, irritability and anxiety, at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50. They used complex statistical formulas and found that people who exercise exhibited fewer symptoms of depression. If a person led a sedentary lifestyle and began to exercise three times a week, then after 5 years the likelihood of depression decreased by 19%. Sports can probably be good medicine. The key is to get yourself moving, which can be too difficult for a depressed person. But as a preventive measure against bad mood, physical activity is shown to everyone.