A recent Norwegian study shows that regular physical activity would reduce the use of anxiolytics and antidepressants.
Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Daily, tells us today about a recent Norwegian study which shows that regular physical activity would reduce the use of anxiolytic and antidepressant medications.
franceinfo: Explain this study to us?
Martin Ducret: Well, it’s quite easy to understand: over a period of 8 years, the authors evaluated, in more than 32,000 Norwegians, the impact of cardio-respiratory physical activities – that is to say, which accelerate the heart rate, and increase respiratory rate – on taking medications for anxiety and depression.
The more people studied had good cardio-respiratory fitness, the less they used this type of medication. To put it simply, doing sports, even at low intensity, helps reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms.
By what mechanisms does physical activity have benefits on mental health?
Dr Julia Maruani, psychiatrist and sleep doctor at the Chronos center in Paris, explained to me “that repeated cardio-respiratory activity increases pleasure molecules, such as opioids and endocannabinoids, and decreases cortisol, which is the stress hormone. Sport, at the right time of the day, preferably in the morning, also helps reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms, by improving sleep. It also promotes social interactions and boosts self-esteem.” And it’s even better for our brain to practice it in a green space, and without noise pollution.
What type of sport do you recommend?
Any sport that increases cardio-respiratory fitness can be brisk walking, cycling, tennis or football. The goal is to move! Therefore, even minimal, and especially regular, physical activity helps reduce the occurrence of anxiety and depression. Moreover, a major study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022 showed that brisk walking for 15 minutes, six times a week, reduces symptoms of depression by 18%, and if we increase it to 30 minutes, six times a week, the reduction increases to 26%.
This means that doing a little sport is already good, and that it is even better when you increase the duration and intensity of the exercise. It protects, at the same time, from the risk of occurrence or recurrence of anxiety and depression, so sport is a prevention tool! And on the other hand, it can be considered as an effective complementary treatment to treat anxiety and depressive disorders.