I’m a big beleiver in the mind following the body.
I know that personally, if I don’t get some good exercise, I feel rotten, and I get depressed.
I suspect that many if not most clinically depressed people, don’t exercise much.
Please note that I’m not saying that it’s that simple, or all that a serious depressive needs to do is get some exercise.
Just asking.
Hmm…Here’s my two cents.
Exercise requires a fair amount of motivation. Depressed people often lack motivation. Therefore, they probably tend not to work out that much.
I can’t provide statistics or anything, but it does seem reasonable.
Judging from my seriously manic-depressive sister, when they’re manic they exercise until they drop, and when they’re depressed, they just sit there like a slug and don’t move at all. Exercise follows the brain chemistry, like all other things in their lives. Exercising has no effect on their mental states, only one thing can do that: medication.
Chas.E has a good point. There’s probably a difference between the behaviors of those whose depression is due to brain chemistry and those who are depressed for other reasons.
Out of curiosity, have you ever researched manic depression?
I’m not bipolar, but I’m clinically depressed. I take medication (Paxil) for it, but I am still subject to fits of depression. They aren’t as severe as the ones I used to have.
I’ve found that getting regular exercise DOES help keep me more emotionally stable. For that matter, so does proper nutrition. However, proper exercise and nutrition would not be enough to keep me really stable, for that I do need some sort of medication. As ultrafilter said, motivation is a problem.
Every doctor I’ve gone to has recommended some sort of regular aerobic exercise to help keep my depression and diabetes under control. Apparently, the medical profession does think it helps.
Well, despite my consistent claims to the contrary, the medical profession has on at least two (well one really) occaisions disgnosed me as being manic/depressive. And I have been exercising like a demon for much of the last 5 years, even doing some long course triathlons in the process.
My extensive research repeatedly mentioned that apparently 30 mins of exercise a day, was almost as effective as a course of anti-depressants. So I must disagree with Chas.E when he/she states that exercise has no effect on mental states. I would suggest quite the opposite. And whilst I think mediaction can prove useful in many cases, I would also suggest that it a scary though to believe: that only medication can effect peoples mental states. My own experience contradicts this. I hope others does too, as we all have the power to be happy 
In reference to the OP, yes, they (we) do.
Benno
Benno, if your doctors just have you taking anti-depressants, you’re just depressed, not manic depressive (or in politically correct terms, bipolar). Manic Depression/bipolar disorder is a whole other thing. Physical exercise will have no effect on the mental states of a profoundly bipolar person. If anything, it will only feed into their states, giving them more of a rush when they’re up, and convincing them they’re more tired when they’re depressed. Believe me, I know, I’ve seen it more times than I care to recall. My sister was an athlete and when manic, she’d exercise until she was nearly anorexic-looking, and when she was down, she’d sit immobile in a darkened room for days with an occasional fit of hysteria about how people were secretly watching her.
Well, while I think it’s at least anecdotally true that exercise can help depression, I’m guessing that people may be differently sensitive to the endorphins that generate the “runner’s high”. If you’re depressive, you may not get the same “glow” from exercise and may therefore avoid it. On the other hand, people who are strongly affected might actually find exercise addictive.
At the very least, someone with a different brain chemistry might not find exercise as mood elevating as Scylla does.
I only have depression, not bipolar disorder, but since the question seemed mostly to be talking about the depressive phase anyway I thought I’d chime in with my experience.
I know I’m unusual, but exercise makes me more depressed. Whether I’m walking briskly or jogging, after about a mile my emotional state really crashes. The same thing happens after about 20 minutes of other exercise I’ll start crying or yelling at nobody, or else I’ll get really numb and dead inside. I usually have a lot of trouble getting home, because my body gets really sluggish. This effect is worse when I’m currently depressed, but affects me when I’m not in a depressive state too.
For me, the only things that help are my antidepressants and staying active in a broader sense, with classes and social activities and volunteer work and the like.
Well, I’ve seen Tony Little (loud, fast-talking exercise guru) interviewed a few times, and he suffers from manic depression.
Now, in the infommercials (I’m a night owl, so I’ve seen a couple) he shows a “before picture” of himself. Before he started exercising, that is.
So from the way he acts in those infommercials, you might think that now he’s fit, he’s much happier.
However, from what he’s said in interviews (when not on the interview), he still very much suffers from depression. In the interviews I’ve seen with him he sounds quite down, and not much like his “infommercial personality”.
I’m not generalizing with this, but this is a pretty high-profile example of exercise not completely solving the problem. He takes medication to help with it, apparently.
Thanks all, for clearing up my misconceptions on this.
IANAPharmacist but I was under the impression that Paxil was for Social Anxiety Disorder, not depression. I know the two are similiar, but I didn’t think they were the same thing.
If I’m just wrong and stupid feel free to shoot me.
We’ll just say you’re wrong and and slap you.
Paxil is for depression and also anxiety disorders. The other SSRI’s probably help anxiety disorders too, but Paxil has FDA approval to be used for such.
Qadgop, MD
Kaje, Paxil is heavily advertised as a relief for SAD. However, it’s primarily an anti-depressant which has proven to be effective against other disorders. Since I also have mild SAD, it’s a particularly appropriate medication for me.
There’s more stuff about Paxil on that site.
[MPSIMS moment]People who’ve known me before I started taking Paxil say that I’m a very different person now, much more fun to be around. Since I can be a testy bitch even now, I can only wonder that I wasn’t murdered long ago.[/MPSIMS moment]
being bipolar…my thoughts…when i’m manic i exercise fiendishly towards anorexia…when depressed i pack on pounds in no time…never really been normal enough to be moderate and healthy…even with medication(paxil and seroquel),my exercising is all or nothing
That’s not true…I remember hearing from several doctors that exercise increases the flow of a mood-altering chemical in the brain. That’s why so many people get “runner’s high”, it’s an excess of that chemical in the brain stimulated by exercise. I’ll go do some research on it right now.
Not much I can add, except to address a part of the OP: medical (clinical) depression is caused by a shortage of serotonin in the brain; that’s why depressives are prescribed SSRIs (selective serotinin reuptake inhibitors). To the best of my knowledge, exercise has no effect whatsoever on serotonin levels. Exercise does, as noted, release endorphins, which provide a fleeting high, but that isn’t the problem for depressives.
Anecdotally, I take 20mg of Prozac daily for depression, which I started four months ago. I’m not currently getting much exercise, but last year, I exercised like crazy. For five straight months, I got up at 5:00 a.m. every day and worked out for about 90 minutes. I can’t honestly say it had any effect on my mood one way or the other.
I have had a pretty extensive history with drugs and alcohol, starting from the time I was sixteen and lasting until the time I was 24. I went to regular psychiatric evaluations, one about every two months. In the earlier years I was highly athletic, rowing on my highschool crew team and fishing in Alaska during the summers. At these times, I was considered only drug and alcohol dependant.
My drug use continued and I started using ecstacy, cocaine, methamphetamines on a regular basis. This is when my moods really started fluctuating. I was then diagnosed as bipolar. I quit using the drugs and my moods stabilized. The doctors then questioned their previous assesmants and suggested that maybe my emotional imbalance was a direct result of my drug use(duh). Since I have been relatively sober for about the past year(I still drink ocassionally but have stopped using all illegal drugs) and excercise daily, my moods have remained remarkably stable.
Things I do to remain emotionally well:
[list]
[li] I work out every day. I make sure not to work out at least three hours before bedtime because when I do it takes me at least this long to fall asleep.[/li]
[li] I stay away from all illegal drugs and drink responsibly.[/li]
[li] I quit smoking, and began using chewing tobacco. I have a notable difference in my physical stamina. Since I have started chewing tobacco, I have noticed that my usage has dropped from practically having a chew in during all waking hours, to only two or three a day. Hopefully my usage will continue to decrease.[/li]
I eat exceptionally well. I have lost thirteen pounds since I have started working out and watching my diet. I usually restrict myself to around 1,500 calories a day. I find that it is effective in trimming off excessive body fat and toning my muscles. When my body fat percentage falls to around 9-10%(I am at 12 now), I am considering raising my calorie intake to 2,000-2,500 to help develop muscle mass. When I go to the grocery store I never buy a product without studying it’s “Nutrition ‘Facts’”, unless I have already memorized them. This is presently my most questionably “manic” behavior.
Actually, SSRI’s can be helpful for mild bipolar disorder. They don’t do squat when it gets severe, though.