Mindfulness may treat depression just as well as pills

MEDITATION may be as effective as medication at preventing people with depression from relapsing, researchers say.

An Oxford University study found patients using mindfulness-based meditation techniques were as likely to relapse as those using prescription antidepressants.

‘Mindfulness meditation’ – a Buddhist technique for focusing on the present moment and developing self-awareness – has previously been claimed to have benefits such as staving off anxiety and alleviating stress.

The approach combines yoga, meditation and positive-thinking techniques.

The study looked at 424 patients with recurrent major depression taking medication from 95 general practices.

Half of the group were given mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) while gradually reducing their medication, with the rest prescribed pills. The group given MBCT were 44 per cent prone to relapsing compared to 47 per cent of those using anti-depressants, according to the findings in The Lancet medical journal.

There were still issues found in both groups of patients, including two deaths, but they were not thought to be connected to the interventions.

Researchers concluded the technique could offer patients a new option in their treatment for depression. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends encouraging people with a history of recurrent depression to remain on anti-depressants for at least two years.

Lead researcher Willem Kuyken said the team had hoped their two-year study would be able to prove that mindfulness was actually superior to pills, but it was not. The clinical psychology professor said: ‘Both treatments were associated with enduring positive outcomes in terms of relapse or recurrence, residual depressive symptoms, and quality of life.’

He said that low-risk patients may be better on anti-depressants as it requires less of a commitment. But, for high risk, MBCT may be better.

The professor added that it had potential to improve prevention with greater patient choice, as well as allowing treatment to be recommended on a case-by-case basis.

Co-author Professor Richard Byng, of Plymouth University, said: ‘Currently, maintenance antidepressant medication is the key treatment for prevent- ing relapse, reducing the likelihood of relapse or recurrence by up to two-thirds. However, there are many people who, for a number of different reasons, are unable to keep on a course of medication for depression. Moreover, many people do not wish to remain on medication for indefinite periods, or cannot tolerate its side-effects.’

But Professor Eduard Vieta, of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, said it was hard to know if the treatments were equally good or equally bad, as there was no trial group to compare them to.

‘New option for treatment’