{"id":278628,"date":"2026-02-11T11:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/278628\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:43:10","slug":"exercise-proven-to-be-an-effective-treatment-for-depression-heres-what-works-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/278628\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise proven to be an effective treatment for depression \u2013 here\u2019s what works best"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The most effective exercises for tackling symptoms of depression and anxiety<\/a> include running, swimming and dancing, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n

Group workouts may offer even greater benefits for those with depression, especially young adults<\/a> and new mothers.<\/p>\n

Researchers, whose findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, are urging mental health professionals to “prescribe exercise with the same confidence as traditional treatments”. <\/p>\n

The review, conducted by Australian experts, analysed 63 studies and concluded that aerobic exercises had the “most substantial impact” on both conditions.<\/p>\n

Group workouts were linked to a greater reduction in depression, with people aged 18 to 30 and postnatal women<\/a> benefiting most.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, working out for a shorter amount of time and at a lower intensity was more effective at reducing anxiety.<\/p>\n

\"GroupGroup workouts may offer greater benefits for those with depression<\/p>\n

However, researchers said that exercise \u201cin all formats and parameters\u201d may help those with the mental health conditions.<\/p>\n

According to the mental health charity Mind, one in four people in England will experience a mental health problem<\/a> of some kind each year.<\/p>\n

Researchers said: \u201cMental health professionals should prescribe exercise with the same confidence as traditional treatments, recognising that all exercise formats demonstrate positive effects while tailoring programmes to individual profiles and preferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic health guidelines should position exercise as an accessible, evidence-based first line intervention for mental health, particularly targeting emerging adults and perinatal populations where effects are strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

Symptoms of depression and anxiety<\/p>\n

According to the NHS, symptoms of depression can include continuous low mood, feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in life, and low self-esteem, lasting for weeks or months.<\/p>\n

Physical symptoms can include moving or speaking more slowly than usual, changes in appetite or weight, constipation, unexplained aches and pains, and disturbed sleep.<\/p>\n

The NHS advises people to see a GP if they experience symptoms of depression for most of the day, every day, for more than two weeks.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of anxiety can include uncontrollable worry, irritability, restlessness, heart palpitations, dizziness and trembling.<\/p>\n

Anyone experiencing anxiety is advised by the NHS to seek help if it is affecting their life or they are struggling to cope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-278628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}