Abstract:

Depressive disorder, as one of the major diseases in the world, has always received much attention for its prevention and treatment. As an emerging treatment, exercise therapy has optimistic application prospect with the advantages such as lower cost, fewer side effects and easier implementation, compared to conventional treatments such as drug therapy and physical therapy. Relevant studies have explored the mechanism of exercise in the treatment of depressive disorder, but the mechanism is not clear yet, which may involve improving the levels of neurobiochemical molecules, inhibiting inflammatory response, regulating neuroendocrine system, improving neuroplasticity, and other aspects. Exercise therapy has been proved to have similar biological effects with antidepressants, and may have overlapping effects with other treatments. Early intervention can benefit both non- diseased and already diseased populations to a certain extent. At present, there is still a gap in the clinical field related to exercise therapy for depressive disorder, and there are few high-quality studies. The design of exercise therapy plans is still in the exploratory stage, and there is no consensus on the design of exercise therapy plans. Additionally, there is a lack of relevant exercise therapy guidelines for clinicians to refer to. This review systematically introduces the biological mechanism of exercise therapy for depressive disorder, summarizes the clinical research results in this field carried out at home and abroad, and analyzes the current program and advantages and disadvantages of exercise therapy, in order to provide reference for the in-depth development of the exercise therapy researches.

Key words: depressive disorder, exercise, exercise therapy, intervention