Can exercise reduce the likelihood of suicide attempts?

Regular exercise has yet another benefit—it appears to decrease suicide attempts. However, according to a meta-analysis by an international group of researchers, it may not impact suicide ideation or mortality, according to a pre-proof paper in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Various studies have shown a positive impact of exercise on depressive symptoms and other medical conditions that can contribute to mental health issues. “Although exercise has been shown to have a positive impact on those with mental illness in various patient populations, there is a lack of understanding on how it influences suicidal ideation or risk of suicidal behaviour,” the authors wrote. But up to now, there haven’t been systemic reviews or meta-analyses formally investigating whether exercise has an impact on suicide-related outcomes in patients with mental or physical illness. The international team of authors conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials which investigated exercise and suicidal ideation in such patients. The studies were identified from several databases and published between 1997 and 2021. A total of 17 studies, encompassing 1,021 participants, met the inclusion criteria and were used in the analyses. They had methodological homogeneity, allowing for meta-analyses of outcomes such as suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide deaths, and all-cause discontinuation, the researchers said. Depression was the most commonly included condition (71%) and there was a mean follow-up of 10.0 weeks. Overall, it was found that post-intervention suicidal ideation was not significantly different between exercise and control groups. Suicide attempts were significantly reduced in participants randomized to exercise interventions as compared to inactive controls. However, they authors noted that 14 studies (8 %) likely had some level of bias. “Our meta-analysis did not find a significant decrease in suicidal ideation or mortality between exercise and control conditions,” they wrote. They added that this could be due to the limited number of studies and samples sizes. “However, exercise did significantly decrease suicide attempts (in the small number of studies measuring this) among those suffering from mental or physical illness,” the study concluded.

Can exercise reduce the likelihood of suicide attempts?

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