French doctors have discovered an antidepressant effect when practicing Nordic walking in adults with moderate to severe illness. This physical activity reduced severe symptoms in the subjects, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
As part of the experiment, 64 adults diagnosed with moderate to severe symptoms of depression were divided into two groups: one did supervised Nordic walking for 10 weeks, and the second was simply observed by doctors.
Those who participated in physical activity performed two weekly training sessions at a moderate intensity of 65–75% of their maximum heart rate. Their depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Inventory. This is a standardized questionnaire that is used in psychiatry, clinical practice and scientific research as a tool for self-assessment of psycho-emotional state.
Control surveys were conducted in the middle of the term, on the 5th week, and at the end, on the 10th week. Scientists studied the influence of the time factor on the severity of symptoms and the relationship between the intensity of the disease and the presence of physical activity. The first positive changes appeared already during the first check.
“Nordic walking under medical supervision has been found to significantly reduce depressive symptoms over five weeks, especially in people with severe depression,” the scientific publication notes.
The result confirms the hypothesis that the effect of physical exercise manifests itself most quickly at the initial stage of exercise, the researchers specify. Moreover, this is consistent with the general tendency for the greatest reduction in depressive symptoms to occur early in short-term treatment. At the same time, the difficulties of such therapy were also revealed.
“In the second half of the program, incremental improvements were smaller and less stable, indicating a plateau effect. This temporal pattern is significant given the difficulty of maintaining engagement in long-term treatment programs for people with depression,” the study said.
At the same time, the scientists emphasize that physical activity is “an effective, cost-effective, and accessible addition to the therapeutic arsenal of treatments for depression” because it is aimed at achieving the patient’s priority goal of rapid recovery.
Over the past 30 years, the number of diagnosed cases of mental illness has increased by almost 100%, as previously reported by RTVI.US. Thus, every seventh person in the world suffers from such disorders. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 332 million people worldwide suffer from depression, or 5.7% of all adults.
“Depression is a common mental disorder. It is characterized by depressed mood, loss of pleasure or interest in activities for a long time,” says WHO.
Unlike normal low mood, depressive disorder includes symptoms such as sleep disturbances, changes in appetite or weight, extreme fatigue or lack of energy. This condition is also characterized by poor concentration, feelings of excessive guilt, low self-esteem, and hopelessness about the future. In its most severe forms, thoughts of death or suicide may appear.
There are effective treatments for depression. These include mental health care and medication, but the WHO notes that barriers include insufficient funding for mental health care, a shortage of trained health workers and social stigma associated with mental disorders.
Earlier, RTVI.US wrote about how Indian scientists discovered the benefits of prebiotics in the fight against depression, and researchers from the UK identified a side effect of an anti-inflammatory drug that alleviates the symptoms of mental illness.
