{"id":25007,"date":"2025-03-25T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=25007"},"modified":"2025-03-25T10:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:04:26","slug":"do-this-to-keep-depression-at-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2025\/03\/do-this-to-keep-depression-at-bay.html","title":{"rendered":"Do This to Keep Depression at Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_25063\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25063\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/depressed-woman-window-forgotten-alone_woman_credit-shutterstock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25063\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/depressed-woman-window-forgotten-alone_woman_credit-shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25063\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 5% of adults in the United States regularly experience symptoms of depression. While there are effective treatments available, such as antidepressants and therapy, these don\u2019t work for everyone. Some people may not respond to antidepressants, while others may struggle with the side effects. As a result, many health professionals recommend a holistic approach to treating depression, one that considers lifestyle factors in addition to medication.<\/p>\n<p>What if I told you that there is a simple, free, and easily accessible intervention that could reduce your risk for depression by 31%? Would you be interested in learning more?<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamanetworkopen\/fullarticle\/2828073\">recent systematic review and meta-analysis,<\/a> researchers examined over 96,000 adults to investigate the relationship between walking and depression. The analysis, which included data from multiple studies, highlighted a fascinating finding: daily physical activity, particularly walking, is linked to a reduced risk of depression. This offers promising evidence for the benefits of incorporating more movement into daily routines, particularly for individuals at risk for or currently dealing with depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>So, how much walking is enough to make a difference? The results were compelling:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The More Steps, the Fewer Depressive Symptoms:<\/strong>\u00a0Studies consistently found that individuals who walked more regularly experienced fewer symptoms of depression.<\/li>\n<li><strong>7000 Steps Per Day:<\/strong>\u00a0People who achieved at least 7,000 steps per day had a significantly lower risk of depression compared to those who walked less. In fact, those who reached this threshold showed a reduced likelihood of developing depression compared to those who were more sedentary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Every 1,000 Steps Count:<\/strong>\u00a0For every additional 1,000 steps taken per day, participants showed a 9% reduction in their risk of depression. This suggests that even small increases in daily movement can yield substantial mental health benefits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>7500 Steps\/Day: A 42% Reduction in Depression Risk:<\/strong>\u00a0Those who consistently walked more than 7,500 steps per day saw a remarkable 42% reduction in the prevalence of depression, a finding that highlights the strong association between physical activity and improved mental well-being.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The 5,000 Step Threshold:<\/strong>\u00a0Walking more than 5,000 steps a day also showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms. While this number is lower than the other thresholds, it still indicates that even moderate physical activity can lead to noticeable benefits for mood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Small Changes, Big Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The takeaway is simple: to improve your mental health, get moving. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, like many of us, it\u2019s essential to find ways to incorporate more movement into your day. Whether it&#8217;s taking a walk around the block, stepping outside during lunch breaks, or parking further away from your destination to add extra steps, every bit counts.<\/p>\n<p>The best part? The only cost is your time. Walking doesn\u2019t require a gym membership or expensive equipment. It\u2019s accessible, free, and something you can do at any time.<\/p>\n<p>So, the next time you&#8217;re feeling a little down, consider going for a walk. Your body and mind will thank you. Remember, even small changes in activity can have a big impact on your mental well-being. So lace up your shoes and start walking\u2014it\u2019s one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to boost your mood and mental health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 5% of adults in the United States regularly experience symptoms of depression. While there are effective treatments available, such as antidepressants and therapy, these don\u2019t work for everyone. Some people may not respond to antidepressants, while others may struggle with the side effects. As&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":25063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[304,16,14,13,8765,8768],"class_list":["post-25007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-depression","tag-exercise","tag-lifestyle","tag-mental-health","tag-prevent-depression","tag-steps-per-day"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do This to Keep Depression at Bay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if I told you there was something simple you could do to decrease your risk for depression by 31%? And it is free.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2025\/03\/do-this-to-keep-depression-at-bay.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do This to Keep Depression at Bay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What if I told you there was something simple you could do to decrease your risk for depression by 31%? 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25007"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25066,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007\/revisions\/25066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}