Being Active May Help Lift Sense Of Hopelessness

“More active men seem to have a rosier outlook on life, new research from Finland shows. Dr. Maarit Valtonen of Kuopio University Hospital and colleagues found that men who spent less than one hour a week doing moderate to vigorous leisure-time physical activity were 37% more likely to report feeling hopeless than men who logged at least 2.5 hours weekly. Feeling hopeless has been linked to worse heart health and greater risk of dying, the researchers note, independent of the effects of depression. To investigate whether physical exercise might influence hopelessness -- just as it has been shown to help reduce depression -- the researchers surveyed 2,428 men, 42 to 60 years old, about their mood and physical activity levels and tested their fitness...."

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/10/eline/links/20090710elin024.html