Think Happy!

Meditation may be more effective than drug treatments for preventing relapses into depression.

Mike Reeves-McMillan points to an interesting find on the BBC News website, which reports that Group meditation is as effective as drug treatments for stopping people slipping back into depression. The study, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, found that Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy was actually more effective than medication in improving patients’ quality of life.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is a blend of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and meditation techniques rooted in Buddhism. The effectiveness of Mindfulness practice lies in helping patients recognise their patterns of thinking and to note drops in their mood. This then enables them to stop depression in its tracks. Speaking personally, one of the most powerful things I’ve learned whilst battling depression is putting the breaks on the escalation of negative thoughts. So, this sounds great to me!

If you want to find more, check out the following links:

1. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy at Wikipedia
2. www.mbct.com
3. www.mbct.co.uk
4. The Prescription is Meditation
5. Center for Mindfulness
6. The Mindful Way through Depression by J. Mark G. Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn

And, of course, a hat-tip goes to Mike.