Research Finds Exercise as Effective as Therapy for Depression

Tell Us Something We Don’t Know: If you exercise regularly, you might already know this: exercise can lift your mood. Now, a comprehensive review from Cochrane validates what many of us already feel in our bones. Findings show that regular physical activity can ease depression about as effectively as psychological therapy.

The Study: Researchers analyzed 73 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 5,000 adults diagnosed with depression, comparing exercise with no treatment, therapy, and antidepressant medication. Overall, exercise led to moderate reductions in depressive symptoms compared with no treatment and produced similar improvements to psychological therapy in the trials that directly compared them. Exercise also showed benefits comparable to antidepressants, but that evidence was weaker.

The Takeaway: Moving your body is a safe, low-cost, accessible option that can meaningfully reduce depressive symptoms and may be worth incorporating alongside other treatments. It’s not a one-size-fits-all cure; some people will still need therapy (we’re big fans of talk therapy here), medication, or both, alongside exercise. 

Keep In Mind: Many of the studies analyzed were small and short-term, leaving long-term results uncertain and questions about which kinds of exercise work best.