For better depression management, research has often suggested exercise as a way to ease symptoms and optimize therapeutic approaches—for example, one study notes that exercise may improve how you respond to antidepressants. But a recent study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, stacks exercise like running directly up against medications to see which is more effective.Turns out, they have similar benefits, but running led to other physical health improvements while antidepressants had the opposite effect.Researchers recruited 141 patients with diagnosed depression and/or anxiety and offered them the choice of either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), an antidepressant medication or group-based running therapy for 16 weeks — 45 chose medication while 96 selected running.The running group exercised in a therapeutic setting at least twice a week, guided by mental health practitioners who were trained as running therapists. While these experts didn’t offer direct talk therapy, they did offer guidance on things like connecting to the body and physical boundaries. At the beginning of the program, the experts also discussed past experiences with exercise and shared information on things like food, fatigue, injuries, sleep, and recovery.The running sessions lasted 45 minutes, including a 10-minute warmup, 30 minutes of jogging, and a five-minute cooldown. Each participant wore a heart rate monitor and the goal was to jog at an intensity of 50% to 70% of heart rate reserve for the first four weeks, and 70% to 85% in the final 12 weeks. At the end of the trial, around 44% in both groups showed improvement in depression and anxiety, but only those in the running group had additional benefits in terms of better blood pressure, heart function, and waist circumference. Those in the antidepressant group showed a slight deterioration in these metabolic markers.“The most important takeaway is that we showed running therapy and antidepressant medication are equally effective in treating depression and anxiety disorders when looking at mental health outcomes, including remission and response rates,” said lead researcher Josine Verhoeven, Ph.D., a researcher in the department of psychiatry at Vrije University in Amsterdam. Verhoeven said the exercise itself likely led to favorable outcomes for those in the running group but factors like being outside, getting exposed to daylight, and setting and reaching goals also likely helped to enhance the mental benefits.“When looking at somatic health outcomes , running therapy outperformed antidepressant medication, as it had several beneficial effects for somatic health, while antidepressant medication’s side effects decreased somatic health variables,” Verhoeven added.That’s because antidepressants have known side effects that include weight gain, increased blood pressure, and decreased heart rate variability, she told Runner’s World.Despite the findings of this recent study, this shouldn’t cause people who need antidepressants to veer away from medication, which can be very helpful in treating certain forms of depression, said Lindsey Law, M.D., a psychiatrist at Colorado-based Prairie Health. She told Runner’s World that many factors go into the diagnosis and treatment of depression, including the role of lifestyle behaviors and the use of medication. Also, if you’re currently on antidepressants and want to try easing off that medication with a strategy like exercise, definitely check in with your healthcare provider because you need to reduce those meds gradually rather than stop them suddenly, according to Law.In general, doing more exercise like running can be an effective complement to depression therapy, but it’s important to tailor your approach based on your situation—and to get guidance from health professionals along the way.“One interesting aspect of our research was that most patients chose running as an intervention, but many found it difficult to complete the 16 weeks,” said Verhoeven. “I think this shows how difficult it is to change behavior and that’s true for everyone, but especially when depressed. That’s why we’re now offering running therapy for patients with depression, so they have personal guidance when trying this intervention.”