Exercise your way to health: Depression

Depression is hugely common in our society. The Mental Health Foundation believes that 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year, with mixed anxiety and depression being the most common. It affects 1 in 5 older people living in the community and 2 in 5 in care homes (MHF). This means that a staggering amount of people are having to deal with its devastating fallout at home, work and in retirement each year. However, evidence shows that a supervised programme of exercise can be as effective as antidepressants in treating mild or moderate depression (Mental Health Foundation/Mind). The link between exercise and mental wellbeing is a key part of recovery, and this user-friendly book is there to show the way. As with all the titles in the Exercise Your Way to Health series, the book contains a series of well-illustrated exercises specifically designed to combat depression and its physical side effects. Taking into account the prevalence of depression and the well-documented link between exercise and mental health, this is a timely publication, and one that will help many people regain control of their lives.