Exercise helps you meet people, cope with anxiety and frustration, and have a sense of accomplishment, which helps combat depression (“The Importance of Exercise”). James Blumenthal, PhD, a clinical psychologist, says that “there is good epidemiological data to suggest that active people are less depressed than inactive people. And people who were active and stopped tend to be more depressed than those who maintain or initiate an exercise program” (Weir, Kirsten). Blumenthal conducted an experiment including four different groups of severely depressed patients; one group was prescribed a supervised exercise program, another group was told to exercise at home, one group was given an antidepressant, and the final group was given a placebo pill. The group that exercised under supervision showed the same or greater degree of remission as the group that exercised under supervision.