First Study Show Benefits of Exercise And Antidepressants for Mental Health

Tuesday - October 10 2023, 15:58 UTC - 1 year ago

The first study comparing the effects of antidepressants vs. running exercises on mental and physical health shows equal benefits for mental health, but 16-week running has higher physical health improvement and a higher drop-out rate. Initial preference was still for running, however adherence to protocol was lower in the running group.

The first study to compare the effects of antidepressants with running exercises for anxiety, depression, and overall health shows that they have about the same benefits for mental health – but a 16-week course of running over the same period scores higher in terms of physical health improvement, whereas antidepressants lead to a slightly worse physical condition, as has been suggested by previous studies. However, the drop-out rate was much higher in the group that initially chose exercise.

Professor Brenda Penninx (Vrije University, Amsterdam) presented the work at the ECNP conference in Barcelona (after recent publication in the Journal of Affective Disorders[1]) saying: .

"We wanted to compare how exercise or antidepressants affect your general health, not just your mental health." .

The researchers studied 141 patients with depression and/or anxiety. They were offered a choice of treatment; SSRI antidepressants for 16 weeks, or group-based running therapy for 16 weeks. 45 chose antidepressants, with 96 participating in running. The members of the group which chose antidepressants were slightly more depressed than the members of the group that chose to take running.

Professor Penninx said "This study gave anxious and depressed people a real-life choice, medication or exercise. Interestingly, the majority opted for exercise, which led to the numbers in the running group being larger than in the medication group." .

Treatment with antidepressants required patients to adhere to their prescribed medication intake but this generally does not directly impact on daily behaviors. In contrast, exercise directly addresses the sedentary lifestyle often found in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders by encouraging persons to go outside, set personal goals, improve their fitness, and participate in a group activity.

The antidepressant group took the SSRI Escitalopram for 16 weeks. The running group aimed for two to three closely supervised 45-minute group sessions per week (over 16 weeks). The adherence to the protocol was lower in the running group (52%) than in the antidepressant group (82%), despite the initial preference for running over antidepressants.

At the end of the trial, around 44% % in both groups showed an improvement in depression and anxiety, however, the running group also showed improvements in weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, and heart function, whereas the antidepressant group showed a tendency towards a slight deterioration in these metabolic markers.

Brenda Penninx said: "Both interventions helped with the depression to around the same extent. Antidepressants generally had a worse impact on body weight, heart rate variability, and blood pressure, whereas running therapy led to improved effects on general fitness and heart rate for instance. We are currently looking in more detail for effects on biological aging and processes of inflammation." .

She further explained the issues that were faced with the running trial: “For the psychologist and the physical therapist it was difficult to convince people to attend the program, and drop-out was high”.