Meditation key to treat Depression

People with severe and recurrent depression could benefit from a new form of therapy that combines ancient forms of meditation with modern cognitive behaviour therapy, early-stage research by Oxford University psychologists suggests.

The results of a small-scale randomised trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are publishe

The therapy included special classes o

The Oxford team, which is currently carrying out a larger study that will compare MBCT with a group form of cognitive therapy to pinpoint the kind of elements of meditation or talking therapies which can help specific patients, will follow up the preliminary evidence from this small-scale study.

It also hopes to do follow up work with patients to reveal whether MBCT can also help reduce the risk of relapse.

According to an estimate, more than one in five people in UK suffer through depression at some point in their lives and about 5000 people in grip of the phenomenon commit suicide each year in the country.

f meditation learning and advice on how best participants can look after themselves when their feelings threaten to overwhelm them.

Professor Mark Williams, who along with his colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, developed the treatment said, "We are on the brink of discovering really important things about how people can learn to stay well after depression."

"Our aim is to help people to find long-term freedom from the daily battle with their moods," William said.

One way that the treatment benefits people is helping them to live more in the moment, rather than be caught up in upsetting memories from the past or worries about the future, h

d in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy.

In an experiment, 28 people currently suffering from depression,having also had previous episodes of depression and thoughts of suicide, were randomly assigned into two groups.

One group received MBCT in addition to treatment as usual, while the other just received treatment as usual. The result indicated that the number of patients with major depression reduced in the group which received treatment with MBCT while it remained the same in the other group.