Many circumstances can contribute to the development of depression later in life. Retirement is most often seen as a welcome and celebrated time in someone’s life, but can be triggering for some. Without a daily schedule, routine, and purpose, it is easy for someone to feel lost and lacking in passion for living their lives on a daily basis. Older age can come with health problems which inhibit life’s activities. Children grow up, move away, and begin their own lives not always close to their parents. Depression can be part of the grief of getting older, losing friends, and much more. For women, depression can onset as a result of hormones. Older populations have an increasing percentage of people turning to substance abuse. Alcoholism and addiction can create a dual diagnosis of depression as well. The possibilities of what might cause depression later in life are varied. However, there are proven ways to possibly prevent the onset of later life depression, like exercise.
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry this summer found that exercise is a way that middle-age individuals can help combat the onset of depression, Time reports. Physical fitness in middle-age can not only lower the risk of developing depression, but it can also lower the risk of developing heart diseases, as well as premature death.
Fitness improves overall health and contributes to the prevention of serious medical diseases and other issues. Exercise is about more than staying in shape, it is about keeping the body, as well as the mind, fit. Without fitness, the aging body is otherwise deteriorating.
Data on about 18,000 people was analyzed over the course of almost 40 years, Time reports. Participants had an average age of 50 and had their fitness, exercise habits, and depression examined. Those who either exercised more often or exercised more intensely were at less risk for depression as compared to other participants who did not exercise regularly or intensely. Less depression had physical health correlations. More physical fitness resulted in a 61 percent lowered risk for dying from heart disease.
Building An Exercise Habit
You don’t have to go to the gym and do a full workout routine to get exercise in everyday. Though regimented more intense exercise sessions are suggested, at least 20-30 minutes of movement per day is strongly emphasized to those recovering from depression.
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