If the European Agency for Psychiatry and the World Health Organization recommend regular physical activity, it is because exercise has a real impact on depression. Three one-hour sessions are sufficient to reduce symptoms and avoid the risk of recurrence.
What is the effect of physical activity on the brain?
If many studies show the benefit of physical activity for people with depression, it is because it has shown an interest in a structure called the “hippocampus,” which is particularly involved in memory and memory processes. spatial orientation.
Regular exercise not only activates the hippocampus, but also certain areas of the brain to reduce symptoms but also prevent their onset for years. Thus, physical activity stimulates anxiety, emotions, and self-confidence.
What is the recommended physical activity?
If all physical activities are possible, the important thing is to find the activity that allows you to maintain motivation in the long term. Whether it is walking, running, cycling, swimming or dancing, combining it with resistance exercises such as muscle strengthening or sheathing for at least 150 minutes per week, divided into two to three sessions, is of real importance for mental and physical health.
source : Kvam S, Kleppe CL, Nordhus IH, Hovland A. Exercise as a treatment for depression: a meta-analysis. J affect perturbation. 2016 Sep 15; 202: 67-86.
