The possible physiological effects of exercise include enhanced transmission of norepinephrine and serotonin and changes in the primitive-brain areas that regulate stressful reactions to both real and imagined threats. It also enhances one's self-image and a sense of mastery.

Blumenthal points out that his methodology doesn't answer the question of whether exercise is superior to antidepressants. But if exercise is equally effective for many people and you compare the side effects of exercise with those of antidepressants, it seems to make sense to try exercise first.

Resources

Motivating Depressed Clients: Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 38, no. 4 (August,2007): 430-39.

Baby Videos: Journal of Pediatrics 151, no. 4 (October 2007): 364-68.

Alcoholics: Drug and Alcohol Dependence 91, no. 2-3 (December 2007): 149-58.

Therapy & Isolation: Harvard Review of Psychiatry 13, no. 5 (September/October 2005): 272-79.

Deployment Effects: Journal of the American Medical Association 298, no.5 (August 1, 2007): 528-35.

Exercise and Depression: Psychosomatic Medicine 69 (September 2007): 587-96.

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