Researchers from the University of South Australia published a review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that calls for exercise to be a first-line approach for the treatment of anxiety and depression, according to a summary in Neuroscience News. They say that exercise interventions of less than 12 weeks showed good results—better than medications, especially for anxiety, depression, distress, post-partum depression, healthy people, and those with kidney disease or HIV.

Their review is considered the most comprehensive to date, covering more than 128,000 participants in various studies, and lead researcher Ben Singh laments that exercise is not given the credit it deserves.

You may see the Neuroscience News summary here and an abstract of actual review here (the full review is behind a pay wall).

For more in-depth coverage of the subject of exercise and brain health, I recommend psychiatrist Dr. John Ratey’s book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. It’s an older book, from 2008, but the first few chapters in particular are likely to convince you that vigorous exercise is a great resource for those who have the capacity and support network to move their bodies to improve mental health.