The mind is a powerful thing. And it turns out it may also be therapeutic. New research, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, has found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is as effective as antidepressants in preventing a relapse of depression.
In the study, researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto followed 84 people ages 18 to 65 who were in remission. MedPage Today reports:
They found that all of these treated patients - whether they had mindfulness-based therapy or antidepressant therapy - had a reduction in relapse risk compared with placebo, which didn't differ significantly between the two groups.
Relapse rates were 27% for antidepressant maintenance therapy, 28% for mindfulness therapy, and 71% for placebo.
Individually, mindfulness therapy was associated with a 74% reduced risk of relapse, and antidepressant therapy was associated with a 76% reduced risk.
Psychologist Zindel Segal, PhD, says that mindfulness therapy teaches patients to better understand their feelings and be mindful of events that make them happy or sad. He told CNN.com:
It's kind of like going to the gym and working a muscle, except in this case you’re not working a muscle in your body, you're working the muscles in your brain that help you understand and control your emotions.
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