Depression is described as a state of a low mood that can affect a person's thoughts, feelings and well-being. There are various different forms of depression like postpartum depression, dysthymia, and psychotic depression.
Depression is one of the major illness in America that affects everyone, including adolescents, and can often lead to suicide. While many experts are still trying to find a solution to this disorder, a new study may have a found a familiar workout technique that could help those who are battling depression.
Raise The Weights
The usual signs and symptoms that a person is battling depression include: ongoing sad or empty mood, oversleeping, decreased energy, and thoughts of suicide. Normally a person is diagnosed with depression after the symptoms have been present for two weeks.
A new review that was published in the journal, Jama Psychiatry, states that resistance exercise training, also known as RET, can help with reducing symptoms related to depression. Weightlifting and strength-training are two of the activities linked to making an improvement on a person's mental well-being as well as keeping them in shape.
The paper's author, Brett Gordon, who is also a postgraduate researcher in the department of physical education and sports sciences at Ireland's University of Limerick, stressed that this isn't the cure for depression, however, the findings do provide some hope. The study was based on past research and was conducted on about 2,000 people.
Gordon and his team analyzed 33 trials which tested the effects of resistance exercise training for people battling depression. The study showed that the strength training improved certain symptoms including low mood, loss of interest in activities, and the feelings of worthlessness, which are linked to depression.
"Interestingly, larger improvements were found among adults with depressive symptoms indicative of mild-to-moderate depression compared to adults without such scores, suggesting RET may be particularly effective for those with greater depressive symptoms," Gordon commented.
Exercise The Pain Away
Gordon suggested that anyone who is suffering from depression or has depressive thoughts engage in strength training at least two days per week and perform eight to twelve repetitions of eight to ten different strength-building exercises. These guidelines were provided by American College of Sports Medicine.
Gordon also added that aerobic exercise, yoga, and cardio are also good for a person's mental health. Gordon continued that while more research needs to be conducted on this new study, resistance training can be considered a powerful tool for battling mental health disorders.
