Meditation helps depression

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

The results of a small-scale randomized trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy.

28 people currently suffering from depression, having also had previous episodes of depression and thoughts of suicide, were randomly assigned into two groups. One received MBCT in addition to treatment as usual, while the other just received treatment as usual. Treatment with MBCT reduced the number of patients with major depression, while it remained the same in the other group.