It is known that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It can provide us many health benefits.
In a new study, researchers found that for people with mental diseases and mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, exercise may be more beneficial.
They suggest that exercise should be added to the primary prescription and used as a method of intervention.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Vermont.
Doctors prescribe psychotropic medications first, rather than natural remedies like physical exercise, to reduce patients’ symptoms such as anger, anxiety, and depression.
In the U.S., only a handful of inpatient psychiatric hospitals provide psychotherapist-supported gym facilities exclusively for patients with mental diseases.
In the study, the team found that physical exercise is so effective at reducing patient symptoms that it could reduce patients’ reliance on psychotropic drugs.
They built a gym exclusively for roughly 100 patients in the medical center’s inpatient psychiatry unit and introduced 60-minute exercise and nutrition education programs into their treatment plans.
The researchers found that the patients reported lower levels of anger, anxiety, and depression, higher self-esteem, and overall improved moods.
About 95% reported that their moods improved after doing the structured exercises, and 63% of the patients reported being happy or very happy after the exercises.
An average of 91.8 of patients also reported that they were pleased with the way their bodies felt after doing the structured exercises.
The researchers explain that in exercise therapy, patients can use their body and not rely on emotional intelligence alone.
They suggest that the priority is to provide more natural strategies for the treatment of mood disorders, depression, and anxiety.
The lead author of the study is David Tomasi, a lecturer at, psychotherapist and inpatient psychiatry group therapist at the University of Vermont.
The study is published in Global Advances in Health and Medicine.
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