The Effects of Physical Exercise on Depression for Individuals with TBI: 
A Comparison with Non-TBI Severe Central Nervous System Injury.

	Depression is a serious comorbidity of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with 53% of these patients meeting the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for major depressive disorder. This is in contrast to 11.4% of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) who meet this criterion. Previous studies examining the utilization of exercise and community integration has been widely shown to improve symptoms of depressive of able-bodied adults, however, the effects of exercise on depression in patients with severe central neurologic disability has yet to be determined. The purpose of this review and analysis is to investigate the effects of exercise on depression for those with TBI and SCI as well as consider ways to improve the current standard of care accordingly. The analyzed studies suggest no improvement in depression could be consistently found with increases in activity level in individuals with TBI. Conversely, increases in overall physical activity level may be effective in improving the mental health and depression of patients with SCI. More research is needed before cause and effect relationships can be stated with confidence. Given the consistent improvements in depression found as a result of cognitive behavioral therapy and other psychiatric-specific therapies in patients with TBI, consideration should be paid into the implementation of these therapies as the standard of rehabilitative care.

The Effects of Physical Exercise on Depression for Individuals with TBI: A Comparison with Non-TBI Severe Central Nervous System Injury.