Tag: SMU Department of Psychology

TIME magazine: SMU’s Jasper Smits says exercise can help alleviate anxiety, depression

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 21, 2010

Exercise is a great way to alleviate anxiety and depression, according to a new article in TIME magazine that features the research of SMU psychologist Jasper Smits.

Exercise is free and has no side effects, says the June 19 article “Is Exercise the Best Drug for Depression?” by Laura Blue. “Compare that with antidepressant drugs, which cost Americans $10 billion each year and have many common side effects: sleep disturbances, nausea, tremors, changes in body weight,” writes Blue.

Smits has said that more therapists should prescribe exercise as an effective treatment. He co-authored a book detailing how exercise can provide relief for people who struggle with depression and anxiety disorders.

Smits and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University, analyzed numerous studies and determined exercise should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers.

They presented their findings to researchers and mental health care providers March 6 at the Anxiety Disorder Association of America’s annual conference in Baltimore. Their workshop was based on their therapist guide “Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Disorders,” with accompanying patient workbook (Oxford University Press, September 2009).

EXCERPT:
By Laura Blue
TIME magazine
At his research clinic in Dallas, psychologist Jasper Smits is working on an unorthodox treatment for anxiety and mood disorders, including depression. It is not yet widely accepted, but his treatment is free and has no side effects. Compare that with antidepressant drugs, which cost Americans $10 billion each year and have many common side effects: sleep disturbances, nausea, tremors, changes in body weight.

This intriguing new treatment? It’s nothing more than exercise.

That physical activity is crucial to good health — both mental and physical — is nothing new. As early as the 1970s and ’80s, observational studies showed that Americans who exercised were not only less likely to be depressed than those who did not, but were also less likely become depressed in the future.

In 1999, Duke University researchers demonstrated in a randomized controlled trial that depressed adults who participated in an aerobic exercise plan improved as much as those treated with sertraline, the drug that was marketed as Zoloft, and was earning Pfizer more than $3 billion annually before its patent expired in 2006.

Subsequent trials have repeated these results, showing again and again that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication, and that both groups do better than patients given only a placebo. But exercise trials on the whole have been small and most have run only for a few weeks; some are plagued by methodological problems.

Still, despite limited data, the trials all seem to point in the same direction: Exercise boosts mood. It not only relieves depressive symptoms, but appears to prevent them from recurring.

“I was really surprised that more people weren’t working in this area when I got into it,” says Smits, an associate professor of psychology at Southern Methodist University.

Read the full article

Tags Dedman College, Jasper Smits, SMU Department of Psychology

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Practicing assertiveness skills on virtual-reality “dates” may help women prevent sexual victimization

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 3, 2010

It’s a stormy night when a young man offers a young college woman a ride home. First he makes friendly small-talk. But then he becomes sexually aggressive and angry.

Can she get out of this situation without getting hurt?

While this could be a real experience for many women, in this case it’s virtual reality. The purpose is role-playing in a psychology laboratory at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Although realistic and scary, the role-playing is nevertheless a safe way to teach assertiveness skills to young women so they can resist sexual victimization, according to new research.

Read: “Can Virtual Reality Teach College Women Sexual Coercion and Rape-Resistance Skills“
Read: “Extreme reality: Women avoid sexual assault in virtual zone“

A pilot project in which women practiced assertiveness skills reduced sexual victimization considerably, say researchers Ernest Jouriles, Renee McDonald and Lorelei Simpson, psychologists in SMU’s Department of Psychology.

The researchers tracked participants in the assertiveness program over three months and found that women in a control group were sexually victimized at twice the rate of those who had practiced the skills.

New research in which women practice their newly learned skills on a virtual-reality “date” holds promise for making the program even stronger.

Jouriles, McDonald and Simpson will present the research in November at the annual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Between 25 percent and 50 percent of American women will experience sexual coercion or sexual assault during their lifetime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Those in their teens and early 20s are at particularly high risk, research shows.

The toll on victims ranges from depression and anxiety to drug abuse, psychiatric symptoms and chronic medical conditions.

“Sexual assault prevention programs for young women are widely available,” says Jouriles, professor and chairman of the SMU Department of Psychology. “However, only a few have been scientifically evaluated. Although some of these programs have been shown to change young women’s knowledge and attitudes about sexual assault, they have not generally been shown to prevent actual assaults.”

Jouriles and McDonald designed the virtual reality program in collaboration with students and faculty at The Guildhall, SMU’s graduate-level video-game design program. They worked with Simpson to develop the assertiveness training program and are currently using the virtual-reality technology to enhance women’s practice experiences when they learn assertiveness skills.

To participate, a young woman wears a head-mounted display and earphones that allow her to navigate a make-believe sexually risky environment. It immerses her in a setting that feels genuinely threatening. She faces off against an avatar controlled by a live male actor, who delivers the dialogue and controls the speech and actions of the virtual date.

The department’s 10-foot-by-12-foot laboratory room is furnished with two adjoining bucket seats and a couch to replicate either the front seat of a car or a party setting.

Similar to a multi-player, interactive video game, the sophisticated head-mounted display streams computer-generated, 3D images. The perspective is first-person, which tracks and changes with the wearer’s head position. Earphones surround the wearer with the sounds of pounding rain and music from the car radio.

The woman experiences the make-believe environment from a seat next to the avatar. In a 10- to 12-minute role-play, the actor challenges the young woman’s assertiveness by gradually escalating the conversation from small-talk and flirtation to verbal sexual coercion and anger. The avatar’s lips move in sync with the actor’s speech, and his facial expressions and movements, such as changing the radio station and drinking beer, make the virtual interaction more natural.

Research by Jouriles and McDonald published in 2009 found that young women who practiced navigating the virtual reality environment had a stronger negative reaction to the sexual threat than did participants in conventional role-playing without virtual reality technology.

Although the study didn’t evaluate the reason for that difference, Jouriles and McDonald hypothesized that the virtual environment makes it easier for participants to become immersed in role-play. It’s possible that women in a conventional role-playing environment feel more self-conscious or that the situation is more artificial than women interacting with an avatar, which results in more guarded responses, they said.

McDonald is an associate professor. Simpson is an assistant professor.

Tags Dedman College, Ernest Jouriles, Lorelei Simpson, Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Renee McDonald, SMU Department of Psychology

Health & Medicine Mind & Brain Researcher news SMU In The News

USA TODAY: SMU’s Jasper Smits urges exercise Rx for anxiety, depression

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 26, 2010

Exercies%20for%20anxiety%2C%20swimmer%2C%20150.jpg USA Today interviewed SMU’s Jasper Smits about his research indicating exercise offers effective relief for anxiety and depression.

In the article “Exercise to get rid of anxiety, and put on a happy face” published April 26, health columnist Kim Painter quotes Smits saying more therapists should prescribe exercise as an effective treatment.

Smits co-authored a book detailing how exercise can provide relief for people who struggle with depression and anxiety disorders.

Exercise%20for%20anxiety%2C%20weights%2C%20400.jpg Smits and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University, analyzed numerous studies and determined exercise should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers.

The guide draws on dozens of population-based studies, clinical studies and meta-analytic reviews that demonstrate the efficacy of exercise programs, including the authors’ meta-analysis of exercise interventions for mental health and study on reducing anxiety sensitivity with exercise.

EXCERPT:
By Kim Painter
USA TODAY
Most people seeking treatment for depression or anxiety face two choices: medication or psychotherapy. But there’s a third choice that is rarely prescribed, though it comes with few side effects, low costs and a list of added benefits, advocates say.

The treatment: exercise.

“It’s become clear that this is a good intervention, particularly for mild to moderate depression,” says Jasper Smits, a psychologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Exercise as an anxiety treatment is less well-studied but looks helpful, he says.

It’s no secret that exercise often boosts mood: The runner’s high is legendary, and walkers, bikers, dancers and swimmers report their share of bliss.

Now, data pooled from many small studies suggest that in people diagnosed with depression or anxiety, the immediate mood boost is followed by longer-term relief, similar to that offered by medication and talk therapy, says Daniel Landers, a professor emeritus in the department of kinesiology at Arizona State University.

And exercise seems to work better than relaxation, meditation, stress education and music therapy, Landers says.

Read the full article

Tags Dedman College, Jasper Smits, SMU Department of Psychology

Health & Medicine Researcher news SMU In The News

Daily Telegraph highlights SMU’s Jasper Smits on exercise and mental health

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 12, 2010

Exercies%20for%20anxiety%2C%20swimmer%2C%20150.jpg The Daily Telegraph has taken note of the research of SMU psychologist Jasper Smits, who co-authored a book detailing how exercise can provide relief for people who struggle with depression and anxiety disorders.

“Exercise has been shown to have tremendous benefits for mental health,” says Smits, director of SMU’s Anxiety Research and Treatment Program. “The more therapists who are trained in exercise therapy, the better off patients will be.”

Exercise%20for%20anxiety%2C%20weights%2C%20400.jpg Smits and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University analyzed numerous studies and determined exercise should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers.

Science journalist Richard Alleyne detailed the results of the research in an April 12 article “Less than half an hour of exercise a day helps treat depression” in The Daily Telegraph.

Excerpt:
By Richard Alleyne
Science Correspondent

Researchers found that a workout reduces stress and anger and boosts the sense of physical wellbeing.

They claim physical exercise should be more widely prescribed as a treatment to tackle depressive or anxiety disorders.

Professor Jasper Smits, a psychologist, at the southern Methodist University in Dallas said that physical therapy could be prescribed instead of or as a supplement to medication.

“Exercise can fill the gap for people who can’t receive traditional therapies because of cost or lack of access, or who don’t want to because of the perceived social stigma associated with these treatments,” he said.

“Exercise also can supplement traditional treatments, helping patients become more focused and engaged.

“Individuals who exercise report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, and lower levels of stress and anger.

Read the full article

Tags Dedman College, Jasper Smits, SMU Anxiety Research and Treatment Program, SMU Department of Psychology

Health & Medicine Mind & Brain

Study: Exercise should be prescribed more often for depression, anxiety

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 1, 2010

Exercise is a magic drug for many people with depression and anxiety disorders, according to researchers who analyzed numerous studies, and it should be more widely prescribed by mental health care providers.

“Exercise has been shown to have tremendous benefits for mental health,” says Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “The more therapists who are trained in exercise therapy, the better off patients will be.”

The traditional treatments of cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy don’t reach everyone who needs them, says Smits, an associate professor of psychology.

“Exercise can fill the gap for people who can’t receive traditional therapies because of cost or lack of access, or who don’t want to because of the perceived social stigma associated with these treatments,” he says. “Exercise also can supplement traditional treatments, helping patients become more focused and engaged.”

Exercise%20for%20anxiety%2C%20weights%2C%20400.jpg Smits and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University, presented their findings to researchers and mental health care providers March 6 at the Anxiety Disorder Association of America’s annual conference in Baltimore.

Their workshop was based on their therapist guide “Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Disorders,” with accompanying patient workbook (Oxford University Press, September 2009).

“Individuals who exercise report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, and lower levels of stress and anger,” Smits says. “Exercise appears to affect, like an antidepressant, particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain, and it helps patients with depression re-establish positive behaviors. For patients with anxiety disorders, exercise reduces their fears of fear and related bodily sensations such as a racing heart and rapid breathing.”

After patients have passed a health assessment, Smits says, they should work up to the public health dose, which is 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity.

At a time when 40 percent of Americans are sedentary, he says, mental health care providers can serve as their patients’ exercise guides and motivators.

“Rather than emphasize the long-term health benefits of an exercise program — which can be difficult to sustain — we urge providers to focus with their patients on the immediate benefits,” he says. “After just 25 minutes, your mood improves, you are less stressed, you have more energy — and you’ll be motivated to exercise again tomorrow. A bad mood is no longer a barrier to exercise; it is the very reason to exercise.”

Smits says health care providers who prescribe exercise also must give their patients the tools they need to succeed, such as the daily schedules, problem-solving strategies and goal-setting featured in his guide for therapists.

“Therapists can help their patients take specific, achievable steps,” he says. “This isn’t about working out five times a week for the next year. It’s about exercising for 20 or 30 minutes and feeling better today.” — Sarah Hanan

Tags Dedman College, Jasper Smits, SMU Anxiety Research and Treatment Program, SMU Department of Psychology

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