Suffering from Depression, Try Bouldering to Fight It

Bouldering is an intensive physical activity, which can be used to fight depression.

Bouldering is an activity, which involves the climbing of rocks or walls of moderate heights without the aid of ropes or harness. A study says this activity might actually help in the fight against depression.

"Bouldering, in many ways, is //a positive physical activity," said Eva-Maria Stelzer, one of the researchers and a doctoral student of psychology at University of Arizona in the US.

Cost Effective Depression Treatment for Teens Identified
Teenagers who seek help for depression can become frustrated by the burden of making appointments, finding providers and accessing services.

‘Bouldering is for people of all levels of physical conditions and it brings people together as a single activity. This activity can be perceived as a social tool to make people interact with each other.’

Because many people who are depressed deal with isolation, bouldering as a treatment could bolster physical activity and be used as a social tool allowing people to interact with one another, Stelzer said.

"Bouldering not only has strong mental components, but it is accessible at different levels so that people of all levels of physical health are able to participate," she added.

In the study, more than 100 individuals participated in a bouldering intervention in Germany.

Depression Treatment Can Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Problems
Effective treatment for depression can reduce a patient's heart risks to the same level as those who never had short-term depression.

The participants were randomly split into two groups. One immediately began the intervention, while the other group had to wait to start bouldering.

Each participant bouldered for three hours a week, for eight weeks.

Depression Treatment Makes For Better Productivity
Depression treatment makes for better productivity, employers please note.

The research team measured the depression of group members at different points in the study using the Beck's Depression Inventory and the depression sub-scale of the Symptom Check List Revised, known as SCL-90-R.

The findings are scheduled to be presented at the 29th annual Association for Psychological Science Convention, being held from May 25-28 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Depression Treatment of Mothers' Improve Child Behavior
Treatment of maternal depression enhances their kids behavior and if the mothers don't get better, these kids' problems also worsens, says study.

"Patients enjoyed the bouldering sessions and told us that they benefited greatly," said Katharina Luttenberger of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.

"Since rumination is one of the biggest problems for depressed individuals, we had the idea that bouldering could be a good intervention for that," Luttenberger added.

Given the positive results, the team believes that bouldering may be used to complement traditional care for clinical depression.

Source-IANS