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Lily Canter

When Betty Grisoni was at rock bottom and overcome with suicidal thoughts, running saved her life.
It gave her a sense of accomplishment and a reason to struggle out of bed each day.
Describing herself as “a classic Hong Kong story”, the French life coach arrived in the city more than 20 years ago and threw herself into a life of working and playing hard.
“I was not paying attention to my physical and mental health and I just crashed and burned. I found myself with depression and ignored it for the longest time, and then almost came to the end of the road with a suicide attempt,” she says.

Believing her overweight body reflected her ill mind, she decided to lose weight. She initially began swimming, but when the coronavirus pandemic struck and pools closed, she quickly switched to trail running.
She believes that together with therapy and medication, trail running has helped her manage her symptoms and given her a reason to live.
“Every depression is different and you don’t cure it. The ‘black dog’ will always be a part of me. But I know my red flags now, and if I start feeling very sad and anxious I will just go out and run the trails.”
Only 2 women finished this year’s Hong Kong ultra trail race. Meet the first
She is not alone in her experience. There is a wealth of evidence that shows how exercise helps manage depression.
A new study by University of South Australia researchers shows that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than counselling or the leading medications.
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in September 2023, the study is the most comprehensive to date, encompassing 97 reviews, 1,039 trials and 128,119 participants. It shows that physical activity is extremely beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress.

The review shows that exercise interventions that were 12 weeks or shorter were most effective at reducing mental health symptoms, highlighting the speed at which physical activity can make a change.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people worldwide have depression. Exercise is often recommended alongside therapy and medicine, but a lack of clear guidelines has made it difficult for clinicians to agree on what type of exercise to prescribe.
Researchers are starting to gather more precise data that indicates that higher intensity exercise such as running, dancing and interval training has a greater impact on alleviating depression and anxiety.
“All types of physical activity and exercise were beneficial, including aerobic exercise such as walking, resistance training, Pilates and yoga,” says University of South Australia lead researcher Dr Ben Singh. “Importantly, the research shows that it doesn’t take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health.”

Research published in the British Medical Journal in February found walking, running, yoga and strength training were the most effective exercises to ease depression, either alone or with established treatments such as psychotherapy and drugs.
It, too, found the more rigorous the activity – such as running and interval training – the greater the benefits were likely to be.
The researchers say their findings support the inclusion of exercise as part of clinical-practice guidelines for depression, particularly high-intensity exercise.
Healthcare providers may want to suggest exercise as an alternative or addition to other established interventions, they suggest.
I just finished the Hong Kong 100 … and I had to build a training routine. For me and my depression, that routine gets me out of bed
Betty Grisoni
Depression’s impact goes beyond mental health. People with depression face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and more women experience this following a depression diagnosis than men, according to a new study published in the journal JACC: Asia.
Grisoni, who is originally from the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean, slowly started to believe her weight gain was intertwined with her depression. Only when she tackled her mental health was she able to kick-start her overall recovery. She shed 70kg (154lb) in the process.
Getting out for a run is a way to tick something off her mental to-do list and feel she has achieved something that day.
“Sometimes when things are hard it takes me two hours to get ready. The first 100 metres are so hard. But when I have done my run, I feel I have done something, and it boosts my confidence,” she says.
“The adrenaline and dopamine make me feel better. When things have gotten really, really hard with the depression, I know at least I have running.”

Now aged 54, Grisoni is an ultra runner, training six days a week and no longer on antidepressant medication. The discipline of training for long distances is a vital part of her depression management.
“I just finished the Hong Kong 100, a 100km [62-mile] race here in Hong Kong and I had to build a training routine. For me and my depression, that routine gets me out of bed.”
Running has helped Grisoni get physically fit and achieve mental clarity, but it has also had huge social benefits.
“The community is amazing, especially as an older woman. When you are on a trail with someone for five hours, you open up a bit and it kind of strips you down.”
One woman’s incredible journey from depression to ultra running
It has also developed Grisoni’s resilience. In the Lantau 50 race in 2022 she fell on the trails at the 40km mark, breaking her arm. She carried on to finish the last 10km despite the injury.
“My arm was so swollen I couldn’t turn off my watch, but it’s OK, bones are easier than the mind to fix,” she says.
For her, ultra running is the perfect analogy for life.
“Running checkpoint to checkpoint, it’s like life. Sometimes I see life with depression as, let’s try to make it through one day, and another day, break things down. Ultra running simplifies things. Either you stop or you continue, which is like life.”


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Wellness

How exercise might help treat depression better than counselling or leading medications – and a runner who says it saved her life

Betty Grisoni uses trail running to gain control of her mental health and depression, which has also helped her lose weight - 70kg, to be exact. 
A new study found that physical activity is more effective than counselling or leading medications for improving depression, anxiety and distress symptoms. Photo: Betty Grisoni

Grisoni (centre) during the gruelling HK100 ultra race in January. Photo: HK100 2024

Grisoni crosses the finish line of the HK100 ultra race in January. Photo: HK 100 2024

University of South Australia lead researcher Dr Ben Singh. Photo: twitter.com/BenSinghPhD

All types of exercise were found to be beneficial in combating depression, including yoga. Photo: Shutterstock

How to be happy? 10 keys to happiness from the author of a bestseller about achieving it – she’s a Dane, often ranked one of the world’s happiest people

Malene Rydahl speaks in Paris on wellbeing and performance. The author of Happy As a Dane: 10 Secrets of the Happiest People in the World shares 10 secrets to happiness from her country, Denmark, regularly ranked among the most happy places in the world. Photo: Malene Rydahl

Rydahl gives a keynote address on happiness at a hospitality convention in Copenhagen in 2023. Photo: Malene Rydahl

Rydahl with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Queen Mary of Denmark. Photo: Malene Rydahl

The cover of Rydahl’s book. Photo: www.norton.com

Rydahl with France’s prime minister and minister of education. Photo: Malene Rydahl

Denmark’s education system encourages children to think for themselves and form opinions. Photo: Shutterstock

When we do not expect much from a given situation, we are more likely to be pleasantly surprised in the end – and therefore happier. Photo: Shutterstock

Family and leisure time in general are important. Danes eat dinner around 6pm and the whole family dines together – a good model for other places. Photo: Shutterstock 

Rydahl’s book describes the 10 factors that make Denmark the world’s happiest country. Photo: Twitter/MaleneRydahl

In Denmark, maternity leave is a joint matter extended to 52 weeks in total, which can be shared more or less as the couple wishes. Photo: Shutterstock

Can running keep diabetes in check? Finance exec took up the sport to avoid taking medication for the condition – now he runs ultra races

Ravi Chandra was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 51 in 2015. Instead of medicine, he took up running - and he has not stopped since. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Chandra’s blood glucose levels soon fell back into the normal range, to 6.80 from 8. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Chandra ran 32km of the 42km Standard Chartered marathon wearing traditional Indian garb. Photo: Facebook/cravihk

Chandra has run 29 races – 12 marathons in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and India, five half-marathons, seven 10-kilometre races and five ultra runs. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Chandra (front) has formed a Saturday morning running club in Tung Chung. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Running is a stress buster for Chandra. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The psychology of running injuries: how obsessive passion and perfectionism can lead to overtraining and running through pain, causing more injuries

Individuals with an obsessive passion for running may feel a compulsive, uncontrollable urge to run at the expense of rest and recovery, resulting in more injuries, a new study finds. 
Photo: Shutterstock

Being able to discern “good” from “bad” pain is critical if you want to push the boundaries safely, says physiotherapist Ken Stuyt. Photo: Shutterstock

Lead author Aynollah Naderi is an associate professor of sports science at Shahrood University of Technology, in Iran. Photo: Aynollah Naderi

Stuyt (above left) says running injuries rarely have only one contributing factor. Photo: Ken Stuyt 

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Travel & Leisure

A study finds that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than counselling or leading medications for improving depression, anxiety and distress symptoms
Hong Kong-based life coach Betty Grisoni started trail running to turn her physical and mental health around after suffering depression and suicidal thoughts


A study finds that physical activity is more effective than counselling or leading medications for improving depression, anxiety and distress symptoms – as shown by a runner who says it saved her life.
