Exercise Is an Antidepressant. Why Isn't It Used More to Treat Depression?

We must erase barriers to exercise in order to improve people's mental health.

Mikala Jamison is the author of the Body Type newsletter.

I’d wager that many people subscribe to the Elle Woods school of how exercise alleviates depression: endorphins make you happy, happy people don’t shoot their husbands, etc. But endorphins are temporary—you’ve got to re-up them with every workout. That’s a harder sell than something like an antidepressant, which promises to permanently alter your brain chemistry as long as you take a pill every morning, no gym trip required.