On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, Dr. John J. Ratey presented “The Positive Impact of Exercise on Depression and Suicide Prevention” offered as part of the Alan Hu Foundation Mental Health Lecture Series of webinars that are free and open to the public. Dr. Ratey explained, “Over the span of many years, it has been firmly established that exercise serves as a valuable avenue for both treating existing depression and averting its onset”. He discussed the positive effects of incorporating exercise into a comprehensive mental health treatment plan, with help from mental health providers, such as therapists, psychiatrists, or counselors.

10:59 Impact of exercise
15:27 What exercise does
20:08 Exercise and depression
21:42 How to motivate a loved one with depression to start exercise
28:50 No Sweat: Small Doses of Exercise May Ward Off Depression
35:54 What should I do
45:00 Final recommendations
48:32 Q&A

John J. Ratey, M.D. is an esteemed Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. With over 60 peer-reviewed articles and 12 books, including the groundbreaking Driven to Distraction series with Ned Hallowell, M.D., he is an authority on the brain-fitness connection. His bestseller, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, solidified his expertise in autism, aging, and cognition. Dr. Ratey is committed to patient care, maintaining private practices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, California.

Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities (MHACC) https://www.mhacc-usa.org collaborated with Alan Hu Foundation to provide instant Chinese interpretation.

We were honored and privileged that Dr. Ratey shared the knowledge and experiences of how exercise can have positive impact on depression and suicide prevention. We were grateful to our audience for tuning in across United States as well as from Australia, Canada, China, and Taiwan. Thank you, MHACC Founder and President Elaine Peng. Thank you, Ida Shaw, for simultaneous Chinese Interpretation.