I am a huge believer in exercise as an alternative to mild or moderate mental illness. I strongly believe that we should be helping people with serious mental illness to get exercise as well, although I realize that it won't substitute for meds. I used to watch my clients with SMI become stiff and immobile by the age of 45 due to poor nutrition, lack of movement, etc. It was horrible to watch. One perky young mental health specialist I worked with has this idea to start a chain of gyms only for people with mental illness. It would offer traditional rehab with workouts. I would love to see this at least tried out.