Introduction
Everyone experiences sadness during certain periods in his or her life, but sometimes the lingering sadness and anxiety doesn’t fade away. This is called depression, a mood state characterized by significantly lowered mood and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that are normally enjoyable 1. Depression can vary from different types of diagnoses ranging from minor to severe depression, which can be life threatening. Those who suffer from this mental illness experience an extensive series of symptoms that can continue to affect the individual if treatment isn’t issued. Symptoms of depression included are: significant weight loss without dieting, insomnia or hypersomnia, fatigue or loss of energy, and feelings of worthlessness …show more content…
According to a theory, new neurons are regularly produced in the hippocampus, but depressed individuals are not producing enough neurons. Exercise, such as running, is believed to spark production of neurons by increasing the number of endorphins, which can alleviate depression symptoms 5. One study suggests that aerobic exercise was sufficient for enhancing volume of the hippocampus 6. Running can also increase positive affect and reduce negative affect. By doing so, this can conflict with the re-occurring depression symptoms and cause them to …show more content…
In the study, runners are significantly less depressed than non-exercisers, which goes along with past research and higher cardio vascular fitness leads to lower depression scores. Other similar studies prove that running does have anti- depressant effects10, but a gap is found between such studies and should be further explored to increase awareness on depression. Previous studies lack resilient study designs and reliable research results. Many of the conclusions still remain unclear from the relationship between running and depression. However, further studies should be explored regarding the effectiveness of running for relief of psychological symptoms compared to other forms of treatment. It is hypothesis that running is more beneficial for treating mental illnesses such as depression, than using medication or personal
Everyone experiences sadness during certain periods in his or her life, but sometimes the lingering sadness and anxiety doesn’t fade away. This is called depression, a mood state characterized by significantly lowered mood and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that are normally enjoyable 1. Depression can vary from different types of diagnoses ranging from minor to severe depression, which can be life threatening. Those who suffer from this mental illness experience an extensive series of symptoms that can continue to affect the individual if treatment isn’t issued. Symptoms of depression included are: significant weight loss without dieting, insomnia or hypersomnia, fatigue or loss of energy, and feelings of worthlessness …show more content…
According to a theory, new neurons are regularly produced in the hippocampus, but depressed individuals are not producing enough neurons. Exercise, such as running, is believed to spark production of neurons by increasing the number of endorphins, which can alleviate depression symptoms 5. One study suggests that aerobic exercise was sufficient for enhancing volume of the hippocampus 6. Running can also increase positive affect and reduce negative affect. By doing so, this can conflict with the re-occurring depression symptoms and cause them to …show more content…
In the study, runners are significantly less depressed than non-exercisers, which goes along with past research and higher cardio vascular fitness leads to lower depression scores. Other similar studies prove that running does have anti- depressant effects10, but a gap is found between such studies and should be further explored to increase awareness on depression. Previous studies lack resilient study designs and reliable research results. Many of the conclusions still remain unclear from the relationship between running and depression. However, further studies should be explored regarding the effectiveness of running for relief of psychological symptoms compared to other forms of treatment. It is hypothesis that running is more beneficial for treating mental illnesses such as depression, than using medication or personal