Lifting heavy weights is proven to work better against depression than any medication And personally I know why I just lifted extremely heavy (for my standards), today was squats and deadlifts (with personal trainer) It's now an hour after and I am mostly unable to think, I am in a state of zen trance silence, there is literally nothing in my brain left Just an empty space and these words flying through If I stop writing this it's just silence and nothignness If I was depressed which I'm not, I wouldn't be able to be depressed right now, because I'm not able to be nothing right now, I barely exist, I just am and that's it It's hard to explain until you do like really heavy (again for my standards) like above 100kg/200lbs and many reps and you don't get the effect below your bodyweight in my experience Which makes it hard to explain this to people starting out lifting because it takes a long time to build up to heavy weight safely and then you really see the mental benefits It's probably similar to runner's high but different? Lifter's high? Anyway go try it!