Depression runs in my family but daily exercise completely reverses it. I’m referring to 60m+ of cardio average per day. Anytime I go more than 2 days without exercise, I’m immediately under a dark cloud.
I’ve heard plenty of people say it doesn’t work for them. I have to assume they’ve actually tried it for a length of time and it’s true. But it’s at least worth finding out of it works for you before resorting to medication.
When I had two major crisis hit at the same time last year I made sure to get out of bed no matter how I felt and go run for about 45 minutes rain or shine every day. I had been through stress anxiety periods before and found it to work wonders. It kept my head above water last year and things are much better now and I am still exercising training for a half Ironman. It’s so amazing how much it helps. Also walking it sounds like bs but it really works for me.
Not GP, but I'm integrating lower impact cardio into my routine both to prevent injuries now and to get myself into good habits for when running may not be possible (or reasonable). Right now I run or walk (I took the winter off from running, so I'm getting back into it) and row each weekday. I have a bike and a trainer for it, which I will put next to the rower soon (I have had too many close calls to be comfortable with road biking anymore). There's a gym with a pool across the street from my house so I also plan to get back into swimming, but I need to work on shoulder strength and mobility first.
Cycling and other forms of cardio can be done well into old age. Sure I’ll eventually be forced to wind down, but that doesn’t seem relevant to whether I do lots of cardio at my current age.
A bungie rebounder (mini trampoline) is a good exercise. It gets your heart rate up and exercises pretty much every muscle in your body while being low impact and easy on your joints. NASA did a study back in the 70's and claimed it was more efficient than jogging with less joint stress.
Even if you can't stand, you can get health benefits from bouncing while merely sitting on it. Even people who are paralyzed can benefit by sitting on it and be bounced by another person.
You can watch videos or chat while doing it. You don't have to worry about bad weather. It's almost silent so you can do it even while others are sleeping in the same room. You can hold or wear weights while doing it to increase strength. It doesn't take much space and some have folding legs for storing behind or under other furniture and some even fold the frame for storage or transportation.
I’ve heard plenty of people say it doesn’t work for them. I have to assume they’ve actually tried it for a length of time and it’s true. But it’s at least worth finding out of it works for you before resorting to medication.