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Hiking can cure depression
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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A simple walking tour can be very useful for treating depression - say researchers from Scotland. It is common knowledge that this neurological disorder can be effectively and almost guaranteed cured by difficult exercises in the gym with the highest degree of stress and intensity.
But experts suspect that hardly so hard physical labor is considered a panacea in the fight against depressive disorders. In total, in support of this fact, scientists conducted 8 independent studies with the participation of 341 patients. Experts evaluated the effects of ordinary leisurely walking, usually in the open air, in terms of overcoming the main signs of depression.
As a result, it was found that the effect of walking is statistically insignificant, from the similar effect obtained in the gym. According to scientists, probably, as in the case of physical stress, walking can act not only as a means of treating depressive disorders, but also as a successful method for its prevention. Among other things, making periodic walks a person is guaranteed to improve their overall mental well-being, which is now considered quite a significant component of a healthy lifestyle, especially against the background of an increase in the incidence of degenerative diseases of the brain around the world.
At the same time, the results obtained differ greatly from one study to another. Researchers tried very much to vary the characteristics of the participants in the control groups, the conditions in which they made pedestrian walks walks, walking speed and many other factors. As a result, there are a lot of questions about the new way of treating depression, and the main ones are sufficient or necessary speed and duration of walking. Researchers report that the answers to these questions can be obtained by conducting new research. The main reason for such a beneficial effect of walking is that during slow walking a person is in a state of special peace of mind, while experiencing minimal physical exertion - for several hours after such walks, stimulation of all key hormones responsible for excellent mood
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