The prevalence of mental illness in our current time raises widespread concern, especially since many prefer to suffer in silence, without seeking treatment to alleviate their suffering, amid debate about the most effective ways to prevent these disorders, or even treat them if the individual is injured.
Researchers from the University of South Australia revealed that regular exercise showed greater efficacy in treating mental disorders compared to the effect of medication.
According to the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, depression is among the mental illnesses included in the research.
The study included a sample of 128,119 participants, which means it is the largest research of its kind to date.
The results showed that exercise helps relieve symptoms caused by disorders such as depression and anxiety.
The conclusion of this study may appear to be something known from before, but it actually carries new information, according to the researchers.
The researchers explain that what we do know is that exercise helps improve the mental health of the individual, but we did not know precisely that exercise may amount to being a treatment that relieves symptoms of the disorder.
The researcher, Ben Singh, the scientist supervising the study, emphasized that exercise was not seen as a treatment in the first place.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 percent of Americans have been diagnosed with some form of mental health disorder or problem at some point in their lives.
The data indicates that one person out of every five suffers from a mental health disorder during one year.
