Improve Anxiety with Physical Activity

Dallas Chiropractor Best Practices

Research Commentary;

A review of

Ben Singh, Timothy Olds, Rachel Curtis, Dorothea Dumuid, Rosa Virgara, Amanda Watson, Kimberley Szeto, Edward O’Connor, Ty Ferguson, Emily Eglitis, Aaron Miatke, Catherine EM Simpson, Carol Maher. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023; bjsports-2022-106195 DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195

Reviewed by Dr. Bryan Stephens

Summarized Review Conclusions

Mental health disorders are on the rise and have become a large financial burden in many different countries. Among these disorders, depression ranks the highest and the most often treatment provided is pharmacotherapy. These authors analyzed the wide research on the addition of physical activity to treat these ongoing mental stresses. They found that physical activity was not only effective for all adult populations, but they recommended that physical activity be the main approach with pharmacotherapy following the initial lifestyle change.

“Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across a wide range of adult populations.”

“Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress.”

“The largest benefits were seen in people with depression, HIV and kidney disease, in pregnant and postpartum women, and in healthy individuals.”

Introduction to the Research

“In 2019, one in eight people (970 million) worldwide were affected by a mental health disorder and almost one in two (44%) will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime. The annual global costs of mental health disorders have been estimated at $2.5 trillion (USD), which is projected to increase to $6 trillion (USD) by 2030.”

“Despite the evidence for the benefits of PA, it has not been widely adopted therapeutically”

The authors ran a meta review of the previous research on the benefits of physical activity with mental disorders to emphasize the greater importance needed for lifestyle change instead of pharmacotherapy as a frontline treatment.

Research Methodology

“Data sources Twelve electronic databases were searched for eligible studies published from inception to 1 January 2022.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Systematic reviews with meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials designed to increase physical activity in an adult population and that assessed depression, anxiety or psychological distress were eligible. Study selection was undertaken in duplicate by two independent reviewers.”

Research Findings

“Ninety-seven reviews (1039 trials and 128 119 participants) were included. Populations included healthy adults, people with mental health disorders and people with various chronic diseases. Most reviews (n=77) had a critically low A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews score. Physical activity had medium effects on depression (median effect size=−0.43, IQR=−0.66 to –0.27), anxiety (median effect size=−0.42, IQR=−0.66 to –0.26) and psychological distress (effect size=−0.60, 95% CI −0.78 to –0.42), compared with usual care across all populations. The largest benefits were seen in people with depression, HIV and kidney disease, in pregnant and postpartum women, and in healthy individuals. Higher intensity physical activity was associated with greater improvements in symptoms. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions diminished with longer duration interventions.”

Research References

As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed here.

Our Message

When you are looking for a Chiropractor near you that you can trust, choose one who will not only get rid of your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle to keep you out of pain. Our Chiropractors located in Dallas, near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd., will teach you what the research says about how and why we should eat a better diet, move more and have more positive thoughts. By improving these areas of our lives we can restore motion and decrease stress while staying out of pain!

Brian Dugger On March 30, 2023 / How We Move

Chiropractor Shares How to Reduce Pain and Improve Anxiety with Physical Activity