Regular physical activity protects against depression after heart attack

I have personally found that physical activity can lift depression, especially in nature, like hiking in the woods or working in the garden.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/nuos-rpa102915.php

Public Release: 29-Oct-2015
Regular physical activity protects against depression after heart attack
The odds for being depressed after a heart attack is significantly reduced among those being stable physical active several years before the experience of a heart attack
Norwegian University of Science and Technology

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The researchers found that those performing regular physical activity over 10 years prior to their first heart attack had almost 20% less odds of being depressed compared to their counterparts being stable inactive in the same period. The data also showed that those who changed from being inactive to become physical active prior to their first heart attack had a better protection against depression compared to those changed from being physical active to inactive. Dr. Linda Ernstsen, from the Sør-Trøndelag University College and K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and first author on the paper, says that "Our results add strength to the evidence of a causal link between physical activity and mental health".

"In fact we do not know if the heart attack itself is related to the prevalence of depression or if it is the change in physical activity level that is the driving force behind our findings. More research is definitely needed in this area" says Ernstsen.

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