Effects of Exercise on Anxiety and Depression Disorders: Review of Meta- Analyses and Neurobiological Mechanisms

Abstract

Anxiety and depression are the most frequently diagnosed psychological diseases showing a high co-morbidity. They have a severe impact on the lives of the persons concerned. Many meta-analytical studies suggested a positive anxiolytic and depression-reducing effect of exercise programs. The aim of the present article is to synthesize metaanalyses on the effects of exercise on anxiety and depression and to describe average effect sizes. For this purpose 37 meta-analyses were included reporting 50 effect sizes for anxiety scores of 42,264 participants and depression scores of 48,207 persons. The average documented anxiolytic effect of exercise in these reviews was small, 0.34. In contrast, the effect of exercise on depression was significantly higher and at a moderate level, 0.56. Data of randomized controlled trials suggest higher sizes for the effect of exercise on anxiety and depression leading to increases up to moderate and large effects, respectively. Additionally, exercise seems to be more beneficial for patients compared to participants within a non-clinical, normal range of psychological disease. Especially for the effect of exercise on anxiety, more high quality meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials are needed. Finally, possible neurobiological explanations are suggested for the positive effect of exercise on psychological disorders like anxiety and depression.

Self-management of mood and/or anxiety disorders through physical activity/exercise

“…While regular physical activity/exercise has been shown to improve depression and anxiety symptoms, 26 approximately 50% of those diagnosed with these disorders in our study did not exercise re gularly (i.e. at least once a week), highlighting an opportunity for improvement in the care and management of such individuals.…”

“…[17][18][19][20][21] A limited number of studies on the effects of exercise as a treatment strategy for anxiety disorders have shown generally positive effects of exercise, 19,22 but the impact (effect size) is usually smaller than that observed for depressive symptoms. 26 There is a lack of data describing individuals who engage in or conversely who do not engage in physical activity/exercise to help manage their mood and/or anxiety disorders. This is the first study in Canada to examine the uptake of this strategy in a nationally representative sample of people with mood and/or anxiety disorders living in the community.…”

Persistent leisure-time physical activity in adulthood and use of antidepressants: A follow-up study among twins

“…Many of the neurobiological mechanisms of physical activity are suggested to be similar to those of antidepressants (Wegner et al, 2014). Physical activity has also been reported to have many other health benefits over traditional treatments (Josefsson et al, 2014).…”

Autogestion des troubles de l’humeur et/ou d’anxiété par l’activité physique et l’exercice

“…L'activité physique et l'exercice comme traitement donnent de meilleurs résultats, dans le cas de dépression bénigne ou légère, que les interventions de contrôle, et des résultats parfois comparables à ceux des thérapies classiques (médicaments ou TAO) 1721 . Quelques études sur les effets de l'exercice comme stratégie de traitement des troubles d'anxiété en ont démontré les bienfaits 19,22 , mais son impact (l'ampleur de son effet) est habituellement plus modeste que celui observé dans le cas de symptômes de dépression 26 .…”