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A new study has found that both moderate and vigorous physical activities are associated with lower levels of specific depressive symptoms, notably anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure) and fatigue (www.psypost.org)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's a caveat that should be part of every study on psychology. The brain is so complex that it's impossible to control for everything.

But, this definitely isn't the first study to show this correlation, and repeatable results are somewhat of a rarity in psychology.

It's really not a far fetched theory in the first place. Exercise releases endorphins, and your brain likes getting high.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

My thinking is that there's also physical health issues and other issues that make physical activity less viable. Human travel (walking/biking) would be a big help*, or just more time/space/money/comfort/motivation(s)** (alternatively: if healthy options were more of a norm/incentive rather than a lucrative market to chase) which is even less likely than changes to zoning/density and infrastructure.

In any case sure, improving someone's life in 1 aspect will provide benefits... but is anyone actually going to help with that or is it going to just result in more of the same platitudes that are already heard? I don't think any study has much chance to create policy in the USA any decade soon.

*=That's from experience... I'm in a semi-rural area, started biking right before the trail closed for renovation ~6months ago. Still closed, no ETA other than "early 2024".

**=Aside from health/personal/travel reasons, maybe it's for a hobby. Getting something out of the activity (money, electric, usable mechanical energy) would be nice if it weren't a problem of cost/storage/loss/logistics etc.

EDIT: And I should say Bowling Alone is in force here too, but again money is probably a big part of that too.