Mindfulness can prevent relapses of depression just as well as anti-depressants, study claims [View all]

[Jesus Malverde]

Teaching people to practise mindfulness works just as well as antidepressants in preventing relapses of depression, according to the first major comparison of the two approaches.

Mindfulness, the principle of gaining a greater awareness of our own thoughts and feelings through meditation and concentration on the world around us, is attracting interest for its health benefits in a number of fields.

The latest study, published in The Lancet, shows that people with recurrent depression who were asked to take part in mindfulness-based group therapy sessions were just as likely to go two years without a relapse, as those taking a course of antidepressant drugs.

At the sessions, the participants were taught ‘mindfulness principles’ including meditation skills, with the aim of helping them to respond differently to patterns of negative thinking that could precede a bout of depression.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/mindfulness-can-prevent-relapses-of-depression-just-as-well-as-antidepressants-study-claims-10190798.html