Hey hack_edu, been trying to get in touch with you, could you shoot me an email? akila@uci.edu

For situational depression it can. Clinical depression is an entire other beats, but regular exercise increases the levels of serotonin in your brain and releases more endorphins that elevate your mood.

There are a number of negative studies recently that show exercise doesn't help depression.

It's probably not going to hurt, especially if there's some social stuff built in.