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Berlin -- Sports and physical activity can help prevent mental diseases and disturbances, according to health experts.

Both have a particularly positives effect on the psyches, according to the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology (DGPPN) in Berlin.

"Jogging, walking and swimming are especially good for maintaining and promoting mental health," advises DGPPN President Prof. Fritz Hohagen.

Exercise reduces depression and anxiety, lifts the spirits and boosts self-confidence.

Patients suffering from depression and fear, addictions or Alzheimer-linked dementia can also help control their problems with physical activity, according to a new handbook by the DGPPN.

Strenuous exercise is not necessary. Housework, including gardening, moving about the office, walking to work or shopping all count as physical activity also.