The Relationship Between Depressive and Physical Activity Paper Example

Introduction

Depression is one of the principal sources of universal burden impacting individuals through all socioeconomic, genders, and age groups. The most prominent cornerstone intervention for depression is antidepressants although their reaction is not enough. Whereas some psychological treatments, for instance, cognitive behavior therapy additionally aid relieve depressive symptoms, optional and complementary interventions options are needed. In specific, treatments which additionally address highly increased levels of cardiovascular ailment and obesity are required among the population with depression since they may provide additional value. Additionally, there are increasing premature death burden because of cardiovascular ailments in patients suffering from depression as well as a promising proof base for physical activity to relieve depressive symptoms. Thus, it becomes essential to examine the role, importance, and first neurobiological reactions of exercise on individuals with depression. The primary purpose of this project is to comprehend the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms. There is an increasing body of literature and proof suggesting that increased physical activity levels decrease an individual's risk of incident depression. Thus, this indicates that physical activity have a fundamental significance in depression prevention. Additionally, exercise can relieve depressive symptoms particularly in individuals with a major depressive disorder and sub-threshold depressive symptoms. In the face of the efficiency of exercise, its frequency and optimal dose are yet to be fully interpreted. Also, there exist some inhibitors to participate in exercises hence motivational plans are important to initiate and sustain exercise. Therefore, this research project aims at examining the relationship between depressive and physical activity behaviors among people with or without depression.

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Literature Review

Meaning of Exercise and Physical Activity

Physical activity is a wide notion and according to Biddle and Asare (2011), it can be described as any form of body movement generated by the skeletal muscles which lead to energy use. Physical activity can be performed in various settings with different objectives, for example, job, gardening, housework, and transport-related activities as well as leisure time activities. Remarkably, the context associated with physical activity is essential for individuals with depression since the past literature has shown that leisure time undertakings have a significant relationship with depressive symptoms particularly in women and in elderly people than gardening, housework, work, or transport activities (Lopes et al., 2014). On the hand, exercise is a subsection of physical activity which may be described as repetitive, strategized, organized, and repetitive procedure which has an intermediate as well as an ultimate goal of maintenance or improvement of physical fitness.

Physical Activity and Depression

A body of literature backs the concept that depression and physical activity are closely linked in a bidirectional association. Numerous cross-sectional surveys which have been conducted on the general population reveal that those individuals who are healthy and do not suffer from depression showed lower levels of physical activity often have a greater risk of displaying depressive symptoms. Additionally, this is a form of connection which has been shown across diverse cultures and states in the world. For example, in a population survey performed in Norway on both women and men who participated in the higher physical activity, the study revealed that they had 31% and 37% respectively risk rates of experiencing escalated depressive symptoms. Additionally, according to a research conducted by Da Silva et al. (2012), it discovered that some Brazilians who often did not participate in physical activity were two times probably to show increased depressive symptoms compared to those who were extremely active. Furthermore, according to a study conducted in Korea in Asia, it revealed a forty-eight percent increased incidence of depressive symptoms in individuals who did not regularly participate in numerous activities than those people who participated in any of regular physical undertaking.

On the other hand, the link between depression and physical activity is also present across the age spectrum. For instance, according to a study performed by Biddle and Asare (2011), children with the high degree of physical activity were at thirty-eight percent reduced danger of showing high depressive symptoms levels. Additionally, in another research by Rebar et al. (2016), they found that elderly population with low levels of physical activity stood at eighty-three percent increased risk of showing depressive symptoms than middle-aged individuals.

Additionally, a body of literature taking account of the impact of levels of physical activity on the future incidents of depression was summarized by different authors such as Mammen and Faulkner (2013). The scholars performed a systematic review across thirty longitudinal surveys. They discovered that twenty-five of these studies showed an inverse association exists between lower risk of occurrence of depression and high physical activity. Thus, one can support his argument that there exists a crucial proof which suggests that physical activity provides a protective impact for the danger of developing depression in individuals particularly those with no evidence of suffering from depression. Nonetheless, some longitudinal studies incorporated in the survey conducted by Jerstad et al. (2010), discovered that the protective impact of physical activity is partially studied on women. Whereas the finding of this literature review is convincing, a meta-analysis is needed to examine the results consistency across all the twenty-five includes surveys. Also, a meta-regress evaluation would facilitate the exploration of possible predictors such as gender and mean age which may mediate or moderate relationship between depressive symptoms and low levels of physical activity.

Various studies such as that conducted Rebar et al, (2015), have also recommended that escalating physical activity may decrease the danger of future depressive episodes. Their study also revealed that high levels of physical activity forecast better reaction to depression intervention than cognitive behavior therapy. Whereas the current findings on the relationship between depressive symptoms and physical activity are encouraging, it is essential to comprehend that the data obtained from different studies are observational. Therefore, future randomized control trials abbreviated as RCTs should pursue to suggest physical activity among individuals who are at high risk for depression to observe whether such intervention may aid prevent episodes of depression. This is the only situation when questions revolving around depression causality may be answered. Once more, a meta-analysis and a meta-regression analysis can aid to explain if various physical activities with respect to volumes, intensities, and types offer various protective impacts to people with depression.

Factors which Affect Physical Activity in Individuals with Depression

There are some factors which may lead to low levels of physical activity in individuals suffering from depression. The most obvious factor is the nature or type of depression where some of the primary symptoms encompass apathy, low self-esteem, low energy, fatigue, and de-motivation. These primary symptoms act as inhibitors to engage in exercises according to Biddle and Asare (2011), a concept also backed by Dinas, Koutedakis and Flouris, (2011). This is scholars who analytically reviewed surveys examining the likely relationship of participating in physical activity and depression. They established that the depressive symptoms severity, as well as low self-efficacy, were inversely related to levels of physical activity. Dinas, Koutedakis and Flouris, (2011), also discovered that some biological factors, for example, the existence of clinical comorbidity and body mass index abbreviated as BMI was related to lower levels of physical activity.

Additionally, according to various studies, there are other severe factors which act as inhibitors to physical activity in individuals suffering from depression. Some of these facilitators comprise biological factors such as utilization of anxiolytic medication, psychomotor agitation, and physical performance as well as demographic factors, for example, ethnicity. Other influences include emotional factors such as negative experience, fear, and cognitive functioning. Therefore with these factors among others, researchers and clinicians are required to acknowledge the exercise barriers and should aim to address them appropriately to ensure people with depression engage in physical activity.

Exercise as an Intervention to Depression

Potential significances of exercises for people with depression has been deliberated for almost half a century now. Nonetheless, these benefits continue to be controversial and topical. For instance, some present recommendations suggest the inclusion of exercise as an intervention for depression centered on meta-analysis results. Additionally, there are numerous meta-analyses research which back a positive relationship between exercise and depression such as those conducted by Josefsson, Lindwall, and Archer (2014) and Molendijk et al. (2014). Nevertheless, the findings and size of the impact of this relationship seem to be greatly sensitive relying on the inclusion criteria utilized as well as surveys incorporated in the study. Additionally, exercise can be recommended as a depression intervention across the lifecycle. According to a meta-analysis performed by Rebar et al. (2015), revealed that exercise is an effective intervention for depression primarily on adolescents. Conversely, in elderly people over sixty years, they found that exercise is effective in reducing depressive symptoms with a large impact magnitude.

Additionally, as fore-mentioned, individuals with depression are at high danger of premature deaths because of cardiovascular-linked demises. Exercise has a major benefit in that it reduces risks of suffering from cardiovascular ailments. Therefore, with a developing body of evidence in individuals with depression, there is significant proof that exercise enhances cardiorespiratory fitness. Additionally, exercise benefits stretch further than relieving depressive symptoms. According to a survey conducted by Stanton and Reaburn (2014), they demonstrated that exercise as a subdivision of physical activity enhanced psychological and physical spheres of quality of life within individuals with depression. This is crucial since pharmacological antidepressants are always not enough to return quality of life of depressed individuals to premorbid levels after symptoms remission.

Conclusion

Physical activity from the research has been discovered to be related to depression in a bidirectional manner. This has been seen by the growing evidence from observational surveys which reveal that physical activity can provide a protective intervention against depression. For instance, escalating physical activity may decrease the danger of future depressive episodes. Also, among individuals suffering from major depression, exercise has been discovered to be an effective intervention for depression. Nevertheless, exercise provides extra benefits which are over the mainstream intervention, for example, reducing cardiovascular ailment risk profile that persists to be responsible for a crucial number of premature deaths. There are some factors which inhibit i...