Exercise is the cheap, inevitable solution to troubles of physical lethargy and difficulties with mental illness. Not only can exercise help one’s weight loss, reduce one’s risk of disease, and strengthen one’s muscles, but it can also improve one’s mood and self-esteem. In today’s society, there is increasing awareness of mental disorders and how one can cope with and overcome them. People with mental disorders commonly resort to the use of anti-depressants and other medications in order to treat mental disorders. However, a natural medication, exercise, can remedy these mental disorders without one having to resort to drugs. Exercise works to prevent and treat mental disorders by boosting one’s mood and increasing brain activity, showing that it can be moderately substituted for medicine. 

There is a multitude of evidence that suggests that there is an over prescription of drugs and anti-biotics in the United States. Specifically concerning anti-depressants, their use “has increased by 400 percent between 1988 and 2008,” deeming to be one of the “three most prescribed categories of drugs” (Khazan). Similarly, with amphetamines and other stimulants involved with preventing symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), “the number of prescriptions increased from 34.8 to 48.4 million between 2007 and 2011 alone” (Hamblin). It is important to be aware of one’s mental health, but some people may not necessarily need drugs to cure a mental disorder. So, how do doctors and physicians decide who actually needs medication for a mental disorder and who could get by using other remedies? A study carried out by Ramin Mojtabai of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, looked at a national sample of 5,639 participants that had been diagnosed with depression by a clinician in a non-medical environment between 2009 and 2010 (Abrams). The participants were re-evaluated for their diagnoses through interviews and in order to meet the official criteria for having major depressive disorder (MDD), they had to have experienced a depressive episode in the past twelve months (Abrams). This episode is defined as a “debilitating depressed mood or loss of interest in daily activities for at least two consistent weeks” (Abrams). The study concluded that “only 38.4 percent of participants who had been diagnosed with depression by their doctor were judged in the re-evaluation to have had a major depressive episode in the past year” (Abrams). Also, from the national sample, almost 75 percent conveyed using medications to cope with their symptoms (Abrams). About 3,474 people in this study were wrongly diagnosed with MDD, and about 4,229 of the total national sample used medications to deal with their symptoms (Abrams). This study shows that more than half of these participants used medications and only 38.4 percent actually needed them. In cases of severe depressive disorders, medications may be necessary to cure the disorder, possibly to cure this 38.4 percent. However, with the other 61.6 percent, natural remedies can help prevent and cure mental disorders of less severity. 

Exercise has been shown to boost one’s mood and improve mental health in people with mental disorders. According to, Clinical Exercise Science, a book by Andrew Scott and Christopher Gidlow, a certified corporate wellness specialist and a sports health and exercise expert, exercise has been shown to be strongly correlated with improvement in mental health. Although there is no evidence showing that exercise and improvement in mental health is a “cause-effect relationship,” there is evidence however that exercise can be beneficial to one’s mental health (Gidlow and Scott). Much of the evidence that the author found discussed how the use of exercise had improved mental health compared to the lack thereof. For example, a study that was conducted found that “physically active individuals tend to report lower depression and symptoms of anxiety when compared with inactive participants” (Gidlow and Scott). Another study that was conducted is portrayed in Gretchen Reynold’s “How Exercise Might Keep Depression at Bay” measuring aerobic fitness, which varies depending how much someone exercises. Then, the researchers look at participants’ mental health that was based on standard testing with a follow-up a year later. They found in the data, containing 1,140, 000 men and women, that “men and women with the lowest fitness were about “75 percent more likely to have been given diagnoses of depression than the people with the greatest fitness” (Reynolds). The evidence shows that the use of exercise can help prevent mental disorders and that people who do not exercise have a higher risk of obtaining a mental disorder. Just simply going out for a walk or a jog can help improve your mood substantially without having to make it better by taking a pill.

Not only has exercise been shown to improve mental health, but it also has been shown to improve mental health similarly to the way medications do. Shown in “Exercise is ADHD Medication,” by James Hamblin, a well-known scholar and senior editor for the Atlantic, a small portion of exercise “improves mood and cognitive performance by triggering the brain to release dopamine and serotonin, similar to the way that stimulant medications like Adderall do” (Hamblin). Another study that was shown in “Exercise acts as a drug; the pharmacological benefits of exercise” shows that exercise “was shown to increase β- endorphin in peripheral blood in humans” (Vina et. Al). Also, the study showed that “elevated serum β-endorphin concentrations induced by exercise have since been linked to a variety of psychological and physiological changes, including mood state changes and ‘exercise-induced euphoria’, altered pain perception and responses to numerous stress hormones” (Vina et. Al). This evidence shows how exercise is used like an actual medication. Also shown in this journal is that exercise can “favorably influence cognitive function,” and it “improves learning and memory, improves the quality of sleep, counteracts the mental decline that comes with age, and facilitates functional recovery from brain injury and depression (Vina et. Al). This evidence links with other evidence that show improvement in cognitive function with children who have ADHD. 

Exercise has been shown to improve mental performance and brain function in students who have ADHD. For example, a study Hamblin found demonstrated “a casual effect of a physical program on executive control, and provide[d] support for physical activity for improving childhood cognition and brain health” (Hamblin). Executive control consists of “inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility” (Hamblin). Hamblin references an image in the study of children’s brains showing this executive control when children performed exercise and when children did not. The images showed that the children’s brains showing executive control, who did exercise, had exceptionally more brain activity than those who did not exercise. Also, other theories suggest that “exercise helps by normalizing sleep, which is known to have protective effects on the brain” (Weir). These pieces of evidence show that exercise has a positive effect on mental performance and brain function, showing how it is actually used in your brain to help alleviate symptoms of depressive disorders. Even a small amount of exercise can help to gain these results.

So, what is this small portion of exercise that needs to be done in order to enhance mood and brain function? Many scientists and experts discuss how exercise with low to moderate intensity can enhance mood, brain function and self- esteem. For example, a study that was found in exercise for mental health showed that “thirty minutes of exercise of moderate intensity, such as brisk walking for 3 days a week, is sufficient for these health benefits” (Sharma et al.) Also in this study, the authors found that exercise programs can help when dealing with improvement of mental health. For example, a study found that “patients suffering from schizophrenia who participated in a 3-month physical conditioning program showed improvements in weight control and reported increased fitness levels, exercise tolerance, reduced blood pressure levels, increased perceived energy levels, and increased upper body and hand grip strength levels” (Sharma). It is shown through this data that one does not necessarily need to run or do high intensity workouts in order to gain results. There are also other activities that one can do to improve mental health such as “jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing,” these activities have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression (Sharma). 

There is evidence based off of personal anecdotes showing how a small portion of physical exercise is beneficiary to one’s mood. In “For Depression, Prescribing Exercise Before Medication,” by Olga Khazan, a writer covering health, gender, and science for the Atlantic, exercise helped better the mood of college student, Joel Ginsberg. Ginsberg thought that “the world lost its color,” and “nothing interested [him]; [he] didn’t have any motivation. There was a lot of self-doubt” (Khazan). He was able to find that color again by starting to exercise and doing so in small steps. He said, “I would think about just getting to the gym, rather than going for 30 minutes. Once I was at the gym, I would say ‘I’m just going to get on the treadmill for five minutes’” (Khazan). Then, with time, Ginsberg’s small steps became bigger ones and “his gym visits became daily. If he skipped one day, his mood would plummet the next” (Khazan). This evidence goes to show that if one starts to workout in small intervals, even in a depressive state, that it can be beneficial. Exercise itself may not completely be able to cure a mental disorder all on its own, Gisberg said that it “didn’t cure him, but it did give him the energy to sort through the origins of his inner turmoil” (Khazan). Some people combine the use of both medication and exercise, and once their mood enhances, they are able to slowly go off the medication and just use exercise as a treatment. When one thinks of exercise, it is usually associated with a negative connotation. However, if exercise is handled in small steps, at little intensity, it can work to prevent and cure a depressive disorder. Also, this is evidence that exercise was able to help Ginsberg’s depressive state without the use of medication.

There is also evidence that doctors have been successful in prescribing exercise as a medication for mental disorders. This doctor, for example, Madhukar H. Trivedi, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas is the epitome of advocating exercise as a treatment for depression. Trivedi says that he “talk[s] about the pros and cons about all the treatment options available- exercise, therapy, and pills” (Khazan). This shows that Trivedi takes a first step in not resorting straight to anti-depressants, but he looks at every option in order to give his patient the treatment that best suits the severity of their mental disorder. He also states that if he gives patients the treatment of exercise, he does not just say “go exercise and call me if it doesn’t work” (Khazan). Trivedi also says that he “must gently raise the idea of exercise as a treatment option-patients often don’t know how to ask” (Khazan). He convinces patients that exercise is an effective treatment for depression by showing them different studies on how exercise has been shown to be beneficial to one’s mental health. Next, he says that “he and the patient then blueprint a weekly workout schedule together” (Khazan). Trivedi also touches on the fact that it does not work for everyone and that exercise needs to be done consistently in order for someone’s mood to stay high. This is evidence that exercise can be prescribed as a medication and can work when doctors consider it as an option for a treatment of mental disorders. Also, it shows that doctors have to be willing to consider the options that the patient has to cure their mental disorder. For cases of less severity it may be exercise or therapy, but if it is severe than maybe pills are the answer. 

Because exercise may not work for everyone, some people argue that medications work better in treating mental disorders than natural medications. In a personal anecdote by Maura Kelly in “Hey, Let’s Not Get Carried Away: Anti-Depressants Really Do Help People,” Kelly says that she “had major sleeping problems” and “felt too tired to keep living” (Kelly). Then, she argued that “Celexa- a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor…restored [her] to life” (Kelly). Because exercise is a natural remedy, that can take a lot of effort, it may not work for someone with a severe case of a mental illness. Kelly, in this case, was not successful in finding other ways to treat her mental illness other than anti-depressants. However, just because anti-depressants worked for Kelly does not mean that it should be automatically prescribed to people who are diagnosed with depression. With cases of mental disorders of less severity, exercise should be considered as a remedy before anti-depressants. Khazan reflects on this idea by showing how “a randomized control trial showed that depressed adults who took part in aerobic exercise improved as much as those treated with Zoloft,” a type of anti-depressant (Khazan). Also, she discussed another study conducted in 2011 that “looked at 127 depressed people who hadn’t experienced relief from SSRI’s… and found that exercise led 30 percent of them into remission- a result that was as good as, or better than, drugs alone” (Khazan). With that being said, just because an anti-depressant may work for Kelly or other people with depression, does not mean that it will work for everyone, similarly to the way that exercise may not work for everyone.

 Kelly also argues that if exercising were easy for the average individual than obesity would not be as big of a problem in the United States. The author agrees with Kelly and that there are “more than 70 million obese people” in the United States (Thompson).  However, this goes off the point that exercise is not the solution for everyone who may have a mental disorder similarly to the wat that exercise may not be the solution to someone who is obese. However, it is important that doctors and physicians take steps to prescribe exercise as a medication to people with mental disorders who can benefit from it, because it is shown to be strongly correlated with the improvement of mental health. Also, prescribing exercise can help both of these epidemics, whereas medications can only help to solve one of these problems. Kelly also states that natural medications can be expensive, however exercise is a cheap remedy for mental disorders.

Aerobic activity goes hand in hand with improving one’s mental health. The studies accurately and consistently support the advantages of exercise on people with and without mental disorders. Also, there are personal anecdotes of success stories that show the accuracy of exercise benefitting the lives of people in a depressive state. This concludes that exercise should be considered as a medication for people with mental disorders of less severity. The author does not have a personal anecdote to relate to the symptoms that mental disorders bring, and can in no way understand what it feels like to not want to get out of bed in the morning. However, if one can muster the courage to take a small walk down the street, a little bit of exercise is the first step to recovery. 
