“Exercise is good not just for the body, but for the mind.” James Blumenthal, a clinical psychologist at the Duke University Medical Center stated at a lecture at Iowa State. The lecture was over the correlation between exercise and mental health.

Panteleimon Ekkekakis, an Iowa State professor of kinesiology, invited Blumenthal to be a speaker for the third of four lectures in the 2016-2017 Hellen LeBaron Hilton Endowed Chair lecture series.

Blumenthal explained that people who aren’t physically active aren’t only at risk for a variety of diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, but multiple mental health disorders as well. Those disorders range from clinical depression to dementia.

This topic is important because with in the last hundred years the leading cause of death shifted from acute illness and infection to chronic illness.

“Chronis disease accounts for seven out of ten deaths in the U.S. It also accounts for 75 percent of the nation’s healthcare spending. Mental health and substance abuse are among Americas most chronic illnesses,” Blumenthal said.

Diagnosis of depression requires five out of nine symptoms including depressed mood or irritability, decreased interest or pleasure in most activities, significant weight change, change in sleep and change in activity to name a few. The only way to officially diagnose it is by a psychiatric interview.

Blumenthal stated that frequency is more important than the intensity of the physical activity. The recommended amount of time for exercising is about 150 minutes per week.

The most important message Professor Ekkekakis hoped the audience would receive was for people struggling with mild or moderate symptoms for depression to try treatments other than medication, such as physical activity. He describes it as safe, inexpensive and effective.

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