How Mindfulness Reduces Relapse Risk of Recurring Depression

Depression is a serious psychological illness that affects millions of Americans. If not treated right away, depression can lead to suicide.

With this in mind, researchers from University of Oxford conducted a study to know if Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can serve as an effective alternative treatment to help prevent the relapse risk of recurring depression.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is designed to help people who suffer repeated bouts of depression and chronic unhappiness by combining the ideas of cognitive therapy with meditative practices and attitudes based on the cultivation of mindfulness.

"Depression is a recurrent illness," Richard Davidson of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told Reuters. "Relapse is a very significant problem with depression, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy may be particularly valuable in reducing the risk of relapse."

For the study, researchers analyzed the data from nine randomized control trials consisting of 1,258 participants comparing MBCT to other treatments of recurring depression among people with full or partial remission.

After crunching the data, researchers discovered that people who underwent MBCT have 31 percent decreased risk of having depression again after 60 weeks, compared to other people who did not receive MBCT. They also found out that people who received MBCT and discontinued the use of antidepressant medications were 21 percent less likely to relapse compared to those people who stopped MBCT and continued taking antidepressants.

Other factors such as age, sex, level of education and how long the person has had depression did not have any significant influence on the effectiveness of MBCT. However, the study reveals that MBCT is more effective in people with more severe depressive symptoms.

The study shows that MBCT can be an effective choice for battling recurring depression, but it may not be for everyone. There is still no best treatment for depression, but an addition of a safe and effective option in the table can be of great help.

"It offers people a safe and empowering treatment choice alongside other mainstay approaches such as cognitive-behavioural therapy and maintenance antidepressants," said Lead author, Willem Kuyken, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, in a statement.

The findings of the stuyd was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.