Conquering Depression and Anxiety Through Exercise

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Environmental Illness Books Mental & Emotional Problems

Editor's rating

7.6

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Matthew Hogg
#1 Reviewer
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Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Conquering Depression and Anxiety Through Exercise

by Keith Johnsgard

Johnsgard (psychology, emeritus, San Jose State University) identifies the health hazards posed by the Western lifestyle, examines the relationship between exercise and mood, describes the numerous health benefits of aerobic exercise, and advocates the strengths of exercise therapy for treating patients suffering from depression, anxiety, and substance dependence.

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Editor review : Exercise has a big impact on mood

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating		7.6
Content		9.0
Ease of reading		7.0
Value for money		8.0
How much did this book help you?		7.0
Would you recommend?		7.0

This book describes how important exercise can be for mental health and is written by A Professor of psychology at San Jose State University.

In it we learn that exercise can be used to maintain mood or even to treat cases of clinical depression. The author reviews the scientific research in the area and compares how well excercise relieves depression compared to more traditional treatments such as psychotherapy and drug therapy.

Usefully the author provides techniques for motivating oneself to exercise whilst in the grips of depression, which obviously can be a very difficult thing to do.

Most of the book is focused on running but the author points out that any aerobic exercise that gets your body moving and breathing hard will help to elevate mood. He does say that drugs and psychotherapy may also be required in severe cases of depression and anxiety but the evidence for the benefits of exercise on mood is very strong.

In terms of environmental illness patients this book may or may not be useful, it really depends on the exacr nature of your illness. Those with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and perhaps Gulf War syndrome should be very wary of aerobic exercise as it can do more harm than good and research has in fact shown that mood elevating chemicals do not increase in the braisn of these patients as they do in healthy individuals during and after exercise. Someone with irritable bowel syndrome only however may benefit greatly from aerobic exercise and the stress reducing and mood elevating effects it has. Obviously this is something that each indivual should discuss with their doctor.

In conclusion, I found this to be a very interesting and in depth look at exercise and mood but because the recommendations are not suitable for many suffering from environmental illnesses I have not rated it as highly as I would for a healthy audience.

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