One day, my psychiatrist had brought her new dachshund puppy to work, and she invited me to pick him up. He promptly licked all over my face and then fell asleep in my arms.

I joked to her that puppies beat SSRIs any day of the week, that she should write prescriptions to take to the animal shelter. And it's probably true! Unfortunately, I don't live the kind of life that's compatible with a pet.

Personally, I'm grateful that doctors mostly stay in their lane, although I would hope a good therapist might recommend physical activity to someone who needs it.

And as to what kind of exercise to recommend -- the advice I've heard is that the best kind of exercise to do is what you enjoy and will therefore stick to. Brisk walking three times a week for 20-30 minutes might work great for some people. But if someone finds that a tedious chore, they're probably not going to stick to it.