The next step to treating your depression may be upping your step count, study says

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — The steps you take each day could lead you to a reduction in depression symptoms, according to a new study.

A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open found that a higher daily step count is associated with fewer depressive symptoms.

“Our study provides further evidence that encouraging people to be active, regardless of the type or intensity of the activity, is an effective strategy for preventing depression,” said lead author of the study Dr. Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, a postdoctoral researcher at the Health and Social Research Centre, University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain.

The research was a meta-analysis, reviewing 33 studies involving more than 96,000 adults. The data suggested that the number of steps linked to reduced depression symptoms are fewer than you might think, said Dr. Karmel Choi, clinical psychologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Choi was not involved in the research.

“We typically hear it’s good to get 10,000 steps a day, but here, even 7,000 steps seem to translate to better mental health,” she said.

Particularly encouraging is that even a little increase in your daily step counts can help –– as little as 1,000 extra steps in a day can potentially reduce the risk of future depression by 9%, said Dr. Brendon Stubbs, a National Institute for Health and Care Research Advanced Fellow at King’s College London, in a statement. Stubbs was not involved in the latest research.

More studies are needed, however, because the studies included in the meta-analysis were largely observational and were focused on the general population rather than people with clinical depression, meaning researchers cannot say if taking steps impacts depression or if people with depression just move less, Choi said.

The movements that work for you

While there are gaps in the research that call for more work to be done, it isn’t surprising that more movement was associated with a reduction in depression symptoms. And taking more steps isn’t the only move you can make toward better mental health, Choi said.

“Step count is a nice proxy for physical activity, which has been consistently shown to have beneficial effects on depression risk,” she added. “That said, we should remember that step counts best capture certain kinds of movement, such as walking or running, and may be less well-suited to capture activities like yoga.”

Experts have been interested in expanding physical activity recommendations to make them more flexible around what motivates each individual, Choi said.

Currently, the recommendations are centered around time, such as 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous activity, she added.

“Choose the metric that is most motivating to you,” Choi said. “Whether it’s steps or hours, the mental health literature consistently suggests that moving to some extent is better than not moving at all.”

Where to find the motivation

Many people struggle with finding the motivation to exercise –– and adding depression on top of that can make it even harder to get started.

Setting goals and tracking activity doesn’t always seem to help, Dr. Michael Noetel, senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland in Australia, said in a previous story. Noetel was not involved in the 2024 research.

“Instead, I think we have to defer to more established wisdom about what works,” he said, pointing to support and accountability.

You can find those by joining a fitness group, getting a trainer or asking a loved one to go for a walk with you, Noetel added.

“Taking a few steps toward getting that support makes it more likely that you’ll keep going,” he said.

And whether your thing is weight training or walking, you need to make the activity enjoyable to keep it up.

“Be kind to your future self by making exercise as easy and attractive as possible, like getting yourself an audiobook or a trial at a yoga studio,” Noetel said.

The more you enjoy your workout, the more confident you will be to overcome exercise obstacles, which means you’ll be more likely to stick with a regimen, according to a 2015 study.

“Then, be kind to yourself if it’s hard — we always forget how easy it is for life to get in the way of exercise, so make a backup plan as if your happiness depended on it,” Noetel said. “Because it does.”

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