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Exercise can be ‘frontline treatment’ for mild depression, researchers say
(www.theguardian.com)
If you are too depressed to exercise, try humming.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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Depressed? Struggling to engage with the world? Instead of lying in bed staring at the wall, take up exercise. /s
Totally ignoring what depression does to people's motivation.
Edit: plus this same story gets posted every few years.
Similar studies get reposted year after year because the results are valid. I didn’t start running regularly until the day I almost killed myself. I decided running would be good to help get that feeling out of my chest. It’s been fairly effective for years. I still get depressed, but it’s more mild.
Exercise helps me with my mild depression.
There’s no need to read this so cynically.
Probably why it says mild in the title. Running regularly has certainly helped me and my mood.
Regular exercise makes you feel better, look better, and be able to do more things. The fact that half the thread is talking about how they're too depressed to try exercising is really telling that they probably haven't tried exercising.
Right, they are too depressed to try exercising, so they have not tried exercising. That is practically a tautology, so I am not sure what your point is.
I have been in a persistent depressive state for over 20 years, and the thing is that they're physically capable of doing it. You basically have to convince yourself that you don't have a choice but to at least go for a walk or something.
I'm not saying it's easy, but the only one stopping you is you. I occasionally get off track on my workouts and I have to force myself to get back into it. It's not easy, but it's absolutely achievable.
And you don't have to start big. Go walk to the end of your driveway or the office of your apartment complex or something. Do anything, even if it's only for 5 minutes. Then start adding a minute each day. Eventually you'll start looking forward to doing it.
And the great part about telling yourself, "I'm just going to do this for 5 minutes," is that very often after 5 minutes you really don't want to stop (also helps with ADHD and chores)
One thing that helped me a lot is my therapist repeating that I drive my brain, not the other way around. That, and 'don't believe everything you think'.
My brain is telling me I don't have the energy to workout, but I know it's full of shit.
So it sounds like, by definition, you were not too depressed to try exercising because you did it. Go you?
Also, a lot of people simply do not get anything out of exercising, unfortunately; it never stops being uncomfortable tedium that brings no improvement in their mood.
I was walking every day for months on end. It did nothing for my mood. Not just casual walking, I was speed walking. My hear rate was pretty high while walking. It did nothing for me, so i lost all motivation
You likely need to do something more strenuous than walking.
It's funny how people can be so different.
I personally love the feeling of exercising, so unless I am experiencing severe anhedonia—which has happened in the past when I was on a lower dosage of antidepressant—then it always bursts my mood while I am doing it, which provides significant motivation. However, exercise does nothing for my wife except to make her feel sweaty and unpleasant, so she feels no motivation to do it, and even though I understand this intellectually I still have trouble "getting" it.
- Do something that will help
- Blame someone else for the problem
(Both buttons meme)
MILD doesn't mean all. It may not work for you. It does work very well for some others.
Dealing with executive dysfunction? Try doing stuff!
It’s probably been at least 10 years since I’ve seen this, but there used to be a lot of idiots on forums, including Reddit, who would respond to posts about people being extremely depressed (like debating suicide) and they’d just say stupid shit like “have you tried exercise?”
Exercise certainly helps many people with depression but it is not a magic wand
It's a valid question, though. Lifestyle changes, while definitely difficult, often have a huge impact on mental health.
It's really no different than asking if they tried medication.
I mean here it's basically the other way around.
The article is talking about mild depression and people act as if exercise is proposed as a cure for severe depression which renders you unable to do anything.
Yeah, bit of a discipline paradox.
I find what works for me is calling myself a pussy and/or a piece of shit and bully myself into it.
I always think I'm a piece of shit so that doesn't help. Hating myself into action doesn't work.
I don’t wanna admit it, but I kinda do this too.
Great advice that an unfortunate amount of people instantly discard.
There are a lot of things people can do to help with depression, many don't even take physical effort. "Talk to family" is technically very easy, but when you are depressed, it's a huge challenge, even if you know it will make you feel better.
Not long ago I was talking to someone I know who struggles with depression and has always had a hard time motivating to exercise. They were talking about how their current living situation makes it really hard for them to exercise in a natural way, like going for a walk, because their location is not suitable for that. But they were looking forward to moving soon so they could solve that problem. And I said “That’s great, and I hope it works out. But I just want to point out how you have just given yourself a blanket excuse not to exercise until you move.” There’s no date set to move. It was totally just pushing the problem into the future in a self-serving but also self-harming way.
Some people don’t like hearing that they have more influence over how their life goes than any other single person in the world. I mean that’s a lot of responsibility to carry.
My therapist's two favorite quotes are, "You drive your brain, not the other way around," and, "Don't believe everything you think." They both are based on Mindfulness, which really can help a tremendous amount.