Abroad, there are many such studies: Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina once conducted an experiment, which divided 156 men with severe depression over 50 years old into three groups. The first group exercised three times a week for half an hour each time; The second group only received antidepressant treatment; The third group, drug therapy combined with exercise. After 16 weeks, the patients in the three groups improved obviously. This shows that the therapeutic effect of exercise alone is as good as taking medicine, or taking medicine in parallel with exercise. After half a year, the exercise group had the best effect and the lowest recurrence rate of depression, only 8%. The recurrence rate of the disease in the drug group was as high as 38%, and that in the drug plus exercise group was 365,438 0%. Blumenthal, the head of the research team, told us that the important conclusion of this study is that the effect of exercise is more lasting, and the recurrence rate of depression is lower in patients who can exercise regularly. At first, the team members assumed that the exercise plus drug group should have the effect of addition or multiplication, but it didn't, probably because the patients in the exercise group actively improved their condition. Blumenthal said that taking medicine is a passive therapy, and patients who exercise may have a sense of "self-control" about their illness. As their illness improves, they also have a greater sense of accomplishment. "Once exercise patients feel that their condition has improved, they will prefer exercise. The more they exercise, the better they feel, thus forming a "virtuous circle" of treatment. However, the research team reminds everyone: don't take exercise as a panacea to boost mood and drive away depression, because the subjects of study don't include patients who are mentally abnormal, suicidal or almost crazy. American psychologist William? Morgan has also done an experiment, and the experimental report shows that taking 60% of the maximum oxygen uptake as the minimum intensity and exercising for 20 minutes can quickly relieve the symptoms of depression. If you do physical exercise three times a week for 20-30 minutes each time, and the minimum intensity is 60% of the maximum oxygen intake, people's depression will be well improved.