EXERCISE MAY BE THE SECRET TO TREATING MENTAL-HEALTH CONDITIONS

Working out buffs up the body and perhaps the mind, too.

BOB HOLMES

MENTAL-HEALTH CONDITIONS like depression and anxiety aren’t easy to treat. Medications help many but have a high failure rate and may bring nasty side effects. Talk therapy is time-consuming and expensive. And neither approach is suited to preventing the conditions from developing in the first place. But many people overlook another option that, when it works, can be one of the most effective, least disruptive, and cheapest ways of managing mental health: Exercise.

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