A recent study at Duke University demonstrated that 30 minutes of brisk exercise is as effective as medication for the relief of depression, and, keeps depression symptoms from returning. Before prescribing expensive and potentially dangerous medication, physicians should first recommend exercise and also check for low blood sugar and hypothyroidism, two conditions that can produce depressive symptoms. The Archives of General Psychiatry states that more than 10 percent of Americans now take antidepressants, double the rate since 1996. Interestingly, more than half of those prescriptions are for problems other than depression including back pain, nerve pain, fatigue, or sleep difficulties; symptoms that have been proven to be effectively treated with exercise!
