Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review

Title:Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review

Volume: 14 Issue: 9

Author(s): Antonio Marcos de Souza Moura, Murilo Khede Lamego, Flávia Paes, Nuno Barbosa Ferreira Rocha, Vitor Simoes-Silva, Susana Almeida Rocha, Alberto Souza de Sá Filho, Ridson Rimes, João Manochio, Henning Budde, Mirko Wegner, Gioia Mura, Oscar Arias-Carrión, Ti-Fei Yuan, Antonio Egidio Nardi and Sergio Machado

Affiliation:

Keywords: Anxiety, aerobic exercise, cognitive functions.

Abstract: Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders observed currently. It is a normal adaptive response to stress that allows coping with adverse situations. Nevertheless, when anxiety becomes excessive or disproportional in relation to the situation that evokes it or when there is not any special object directed at it, such as an irrational dread of routine stimuli, it becomes a disabling disorder and is considered to be pathological. The traditional treatment used is medication and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, however, last years the practice of physical exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, has been investigated as a new non-pharmacological therapy for anxiety disorders. Thus, the aim of this article was to provide information on research results and key chains related to the therapeutic effects of aerobic exercise compared with other types of interventions to treat anxiety, which may become a useful clinical application in a near future. Researches have shown the effectiveness of alternative treatments, such as physical exercise, minimizing high financial costs and minimizing side effects. The sample analyzed, 66.8% was composed of women and 80% with severity of symptoms anxiety as moderate to severe. The data analyzed in this review allows us to claim that alternative therapies like exercise are effective in controlling and reducing symptoms, as 91% of anxiety disorders surveys have shown effective results in treating. However, there is still disagreement regarding the effect of exercise compared to the use of antidepressant symptoms and cognitive function in anxiety, this suggests that there is no consensus on the correct intensity of aerobic exercise as to achieve the best dose-response, with intensities high to moderate or moderate to mild.

Cite this article as:

de Souza Moura Marcos Antonio, Lamego Khede Murilo, Paes Flávia, Ferreira Rocha Barbosa Nuno, Simoes-Silva Vitor, Rocha Almeida Susana, de Sá Filho Souza Alberto, Rimes Ridson, Manochio João, Budde Henning, Wegner Mirko, Mura Gioia, Arias-Carrión Oscar, Yuan Ti-Fei, Nardi Egidio Antonio and Machado Sergio, Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review, CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets 2015; 14 (9) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1871527315666151111121259