The major depressive episode has become a common global public health issue all over the world. The arsenal for the treatment of this disorder is wide, however, a substantial part of the population is considered resistant to pharmacological treatment. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of physical exercise as a supporting factor in the treatment of depression. This literature review was carried out in January 2023, through a search in the Pubmed electronic database. The descriptors used were “Depression, Exercise and Physical activity”, combined using the Boolean operators “and” and “or”. The results of this review confirm important evidence of the use of physical exercise in the treatment of major depressive episodes, especially aerobic exercise. In addition, this study demonstrates physical exercise as one of the pillars in reducing depressive symptoms, especially in patients' cognition and memory.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.