Can Exercise Really Help Depressed Kids?
Working regularly with 14-18 year old kids, some of them very troubled, I see that there is a common theme among them-Youth Depression. The statistics are alarming, over 5% of teenagers kill themselves each year. Society’s demands on being perfect are a definite factor. Pressure to be the prettiest, the most handsome, the smartest, the most popular; or being obese or too skinny, the inability to perform academically or at sport. The list goes on. The reality is also that some will be chemically predisposed to depression; they will develop the illness for no apparent reason. Can exercise play a role to relieve some of the symptoms? Absolutely. An exercise and depression study in which participants walked daily for seven weeks found that the decrease in depressive mood and the improvement in vigor continued after five months. Exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise also boosts feel-good endorphins, releases muscle tension, helps you s
