Depression and all kinds of other diseases related to the nervous system and psyche are becoming more and more common in modern people, but physical activity can help treat them. There is also known seasonal depression, which now affects more and more people. It is also related to the development of civilization, i.e. overwork, low social contacts and disturbance of interpersonal ties, or just low physical activity. Can increasing physical activity, starting fitness or gym exercises, help in the fight against depression in general, postpartum depression and autumn blues? Everything indicates that it is!
Exercise, like antidepressants?
Kaźmierczak and his colleagues decided to study Polish seniors exercising their body and mind during classes at the “Senior” Day Care Home. As it turned out? Seniors who exercise and move easily (“As many as 83% of those surveyed according to the TUG test maintain free mobility, only 3% have variable mobility with an increased risk of falls”), they also show high satisfaction with life. Predictably, as satisfaction and satisfaction with everyday life increased, the risk of depression decreased. However, as the researchers point out “In 27% of the respondents we may suspect a risk of depression (in 20% it is moderate depression, and in 3% of the respondents it is severe depression)”1. As you can see, depression can also occur among active seniors.
The study of the relationship between physical activity and depression and general life satisfaction in seniors seems to be a hit. After all, it is the assessment of life satisfaction in older people who look at it holistically that may give us the best results for further analysis.
Physical activity for pregnant women
Emotional disorders, including depression, occur to pregnant women more and more often: during the very course of pregnancy, as well as in the postpartum period. As pointed out by Joanna Kowalska and other researchers, including from the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the University of Physical Education in Wrocław and the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław, this state of affairs is influenced not only by dynamic hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy. As we read in their publication: “Many authors emphasize that not only biological factors, but also psychosocial, socio-demographic and socio-economic conditions as well as marital/partner and family conflicts and stress predispose women to emotional disorders in the postpartum period”2.
From their own study of the above researchers, it appears that women who exercised at least twice a week during pregnancy “they were characterized by a better well-being and a lower level of perceived stress. Among women exercising during pregnancy, the participants of childbirth classes were definitely more numerous”3. The results also showed that women who exercised more than twice a week during pregnancy had even better well-being and lower stress levels than women who exercised less!
To sum up: physical activity can really affect the human psyche, improving its mood, functioning, reducing perceived stress and helping to fight depression.
Bibliography:
- U. Kaźmierczak et al., Evaluation of life satisfaction and physical fitness of participants of classes in the “Senior” day care home, Journal of Education, Health and Sport formerly journal of Health Sciences, 2014.
- J. Kowalska et al., Physical activity and childbirth training during pregnancy and the level of perceived stress and depressive symptoms in postpartum women, Psychiatr. Half. 2014.
- Biology. Multimedia encyclopaedia., Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw, 2008.