Sports and Other Forms of Physical Activity Are the Best Cures for Anxiety and Depression
By Ken Reed
If you move your body, you’ll feel better — physically and emotionally. The research is undeniable.
According to a comprehensive new review of scientific research, physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than leading medications, or counseling efforts like psychotherapy, for reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. The benefits were found in both healthy individuals as well as people with mental disorders or chronic diseases that can cause anxiety or depression.
Exercise is a wonder drug for human moods. It releases mood-enhancing chemicals like dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, and the benefits can build up over extended periods of regular exercise.
“Physical activity has numerous benefits compared with psychotherapy and medications, in terms of costs and side effects and long-term health,” according to Ben Singh, Ph.D., a research fellow at the University of South Australia, and one of the authors of the study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. “Yet, despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment. Doctors and other medical professionals should consider prescribing exercise for patients experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, or other mental health concerns.”
It’s particularly notable that exercise doesn’t have the long laundry list of side effects that medications for anxiety and depression typically do because side effects are a primary reason that patients stop taking medications for anxiety and depression.
The exercise prescription is desperately needed in the United States. In a survey last fall, 27% of U.S. adults said they’re so stressed most days that they can’t function normally and three-quarters said stress had caused feelings of nervousness, anxiety, sadness, depression, fatigue or a headache at least once in the past month. Exercise, via sports participation or other forms of physical activity, effectively deals with all these unwanted conditions.
Scientists believe physical activity is the foundation of positive physical and mental health. However, most people struggle to find the motivation to move more. The key to increasing one’s physical activity is to pick activities that you like doing, whether that’s playing a particular sport, hiking, dancing or something as simple as gardening. Working in short bursts of mild exercise into your typical day is also helpful. For example, taking a short break from working at your desk every hour and going for a short stroll around the office or neighborhood.
It all adds up. A little movement is better than no movement.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a long-time member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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