March 28, 2024 17:31 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as CM | MHA extends AFSPA in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh for 6 months | Encourage fair, transparent and legal process: US comments again on Kejriwal's arrest | India and China discuss border disengagement: EAM | Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discusses defence, trade while interacting with Malaysian leaders
Stopping exercise can increase symptoms of depression: Study

Stopping exercise can increase symptoms of depression: Study

India BloomsNews Service | @indiablooms | 23 Mar 2018, 04:28 pm

Adelaide, Mar 23 (IBNS): Stopping exercise can result in increased depressive symptoms, according to new mental health research from the University of Adelaide.

PhD student Julie Morgan from the University of Adelaide’s Discipline of Psychiatry has reviewed the results of earlier studies that examined the effects of stopping exercise in regularly active adults.

The results of her review are now published online ahead of print in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

"Adequate physical activity and exercise are important for both physical and mental health," says Ms Morgan.

"Current public health guidelines recommend being active on most if not all days of the week. At least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week is recommended to maintain health and prevent depression, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise for added health benefits.

"An extensive body of clinical evidence shows that regular exercise can reduce and treat depression. However, there is limited research into what happens with depressive symptoms when exercise is stopped," she says.

Ms Morgan reviewed studies that investigated the cessation of exercise in 152 adults. They had each undertaken at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times a week, for a minimum of three months.

"In some cases, ceasing this amount of exercise induced significant increases in depressive symptoms after just three days," says Professor Bernhard Baune, Head of Psychiatry at the University of Adelaide and senior author on the paper.

"Other studies showed that people's depressive symptoms increased after the first one or two weeks, which is still quite soon after stopping their exercise.”

Professor Baune says the depressive symptoms arising from stopping exercise occurred in the absence of the typical biological markers commonly involved with depressive symptoms.

"This suggests some kind of novel effect in these cases, although we should add some caution here, as the number of people included in the studies we examined was small. Such findings would need to be replicated in additional trials," he says.

Professor Baune says the lack of research in this specific area points to the need for further studies, to help better understand the way in which stopping exercise affects depressive symptoms.

“For now, it is important that people understand the potential impact on their mental well-being when they suddenly cease regular exercise,” he says.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.