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If you went to the doctor about treating your depression or anxiety, you might expect to be written a prescription for Zoloft or Xanax. But if you went in to see Dr. Jasper Smits, he might write you a different kind of prescription, one that instructed you to take a jog around the block.\n\n\nDr. Smits is a professor and clinical psychologist, as well as the co-author of\xa0Exercise\xa0for Mood and Anxiety: Strategies\xa0for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being. Today on the show we talk about why he likes using\xa0exercise\xa0as an option for patients\xa0who struggle with mood disorders, anxiety, and even general\xa0stress and anger, but don't want to do talk therapy or take a medication. We discuss how\xa0exercise\xa0has been found to be as effective for depression and anxiety as medication (and of course has a much better side effect profile), why it works, and whether\xa0a particular\xa0type of\xa0exercise\xa0is better for particular disorders. We then spend the rest of the conversation digging into the catch-22 that surrounds\xa0depression and\xa0exercise: if\xa0exercise\xa0is good for depression, but when you're depressed you don't feel like\xa0exercising, how do you find the motivation to get going with it? We discuss strategies for starting and sticking with\xa0exercise\xa0that can help not only those who struggle with mood disorders and anxiety, but anyone who is looking to make physical activity a habit.\n\nCheck out the show notes at aom.is/exerciseformood