There was a study recently published out of Sweden that looked at men and women who took part in a long distance cross country ski race and evaluated how many developed depression. They were compared to people who did not participate and matched by age and where in the country they came from. This study included nearly 400,000 people and followed them for almost 20 years! This type of study has not been done previously at this magnitude.

What they found was the men and women who did not participate in the ski race had double the incidence of depression than those that did. They also tracked what place the people in the race finished in and found in men, but not women, the higher they placed lower their risk of developing depression. This lead them to the conclusion that the more men exercised the more they were protected from depression as it is likely to assume the better they did in the race the more fit they were and the more they trained.

Now I don’t expect everyone to run out and buy a pair of skis and start ski racing. The take away from this article is that any type of exercise is protective against depression. Other studies have shown this. What made this one different was the amount of people included and the duration they were studied for.

A point they brought up was that this particular type of exercise, skiing, also takes place outside and that could be a contributing factor in it’s protective action against depression. Being out in the sunlight, breathing fresh air is very therapeutic. So while any exercise can help ward off depression there may be additional benefits to taking it outside.

So make sure you’re getting regular activity however you enjoy it!