this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
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[โ€“] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 27 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

It's harder to prescribe exercise, which takes time and effort and can be difficult to start for people who are depressed.

This detail is swept under the rug in this article and will most certainly be swept under the rug in discussion about the headline.

Telling people to exercise as a prescription only works once, after a patient is made aware that exercise would make them less depressed and they fail to undertake it, the advice becomes a convenient way of saying "just try harder" with different words.

I am not questioning the science here, I am pointing out the consequences of how it is framed.

[โ€“] halfsalesman@piefed.social 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So what we need is medication that makes you want to exercise.

[โ€“] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Medication, structure, additional societal resources, whatever it is that is prescribed is only helpful if it actually helps not just points out why something is broke or stuck in someone's life.

[โ€“] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I used to be really athletic as a teenager, but then had a fall, dislocated my knee, and had to put it back myself because I couldn't afford medical treatment pre-Obamacare.

Now, twenty years and many injuries later, it turns out I've got a connective tissue disorder that makes my joints really weak. It was never addressed, so my feet keep going to first position for extra support, but thats wrecking my hips.

I don't know how to be active without hurting myself further, and I can't afford a pro to spot me.

You have given me what I need to get the doctor to prescribe me crystal meth

I want to see more discussion about volitional and motivational deficits.

But people who have never been depressed don't want to hear people say "people with depression literally find it more challenging, at times insurmountably so, to make themselves get up and go do."

They think it's just making excuses. No, there's science behind it.