Exercising does Not Help Treat Depression in Teenagers: Study
Exercise does not help alleviate symptoms of depression in teenagers, finds a study.
Lifting weights and doing intense physical activities help increase blood circulation, expunge harmful toxins from the body and also reduce mental stress. But, working out regularly may not be help distressed teens overcome stress and anxiety, suggests a new research. British experts from the University of Cambridge looked at over 700 youngsters aged about 14 and noted their level of daily physical activity.
The participants engaged in moderate to intense physical activity for nearly 53 minutes during the weekdays and 32 minutes during the weekends. The subjects' were also interviewed about their mental status and mood fluctuations at the beginning and three years after the trial.
The findings revealed no changes in depressive symptoms in participants who were physically active in their early teens. Although studies have confirmed the actual health benefits of exercising regularly during adolescence, researchers believe there must have been vast differences in the method youngsters incorporate while working out in order to have such bizarre results.
"Our findings do not eliminate the possibility that physical activity positively affects depressed mood in the general population; rather, we suggest that this effect may be small or nonexistent during the period of adolescence," the authors write in the study.
"Adults exercise only when they want to, but other people make adolescents exercise all the time. Their schools have PE classes; their parents sign them up for swimming lessons; their coaches make them get up early for football practices, etc. Perhaps 'exercise without consent' is not as psychologically beneficial as voluntary exercise," said Tony Tang, an adjunct professor in the department of psychology at Northwestern University who was not involved in the research, reports the WebMD.
More information is available online in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
