Mindfulness practice could prevent relapse into depression

[oneday]

Meditation could "prevent thousands" relapsing into depression every year

Meditation could “prevent thousands of people from relapsing into depression every year", Andrew McCulloch the head of a leading UK mental health charity claimed after the publication of a new report.

The report from leading UK mental health charity the Mental Health Foundation, published in January this year, urged for mindfulness – a form of meditation based on Buddhist practices – to be widely available on prescription.

In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended mindfulness-based cognitive therapy courses for people who had experienced episodes of recurrent depression.

NICE reported that in two clinical trials mindfulness training halved the rate of relapse for people who experienced recurrent depression. In the first trial, 10 years ago, relapse rates were reduced from 66% to 37%, and in the second, in 2004, the reduction was from 78% to 36%. But, says the Mental Health Foundation report, only one in five GPs has access to a course to which to refer patients.

Mindfulness is described in the Mental Health Foundation report as "a way of paying attention to the present moment by using meditation, yoga and breathing techniques".

(From a report by Angela Hussain on the Psychminded website, 15 January 2010.)

Anyone interested in mindfulness meditation and similar might also want to see the thread "Buddhism, mindfulness.." etc that I started under the 'Recovery, Self-help.. (etc)' section. Oneday x

 

[oneday]

Mental Health Foundation Mindfulness Video

Mental Health Foundation - Mindfulness Video Series - Video (4) - Ed Halliwell

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A short film from the Mental Health Foundation about mindfulness.

Many people find mindfulness practice useful, whether they have used it to help them deal with recurrent depression or anxiety, or as a tool to improve their mental wellbeing and help them deal with stress (see post above).

In this short video, the fourth of the Mental Health Foundation's mindfulness series, Ed Halliwell talks about his experience of mindfulness and how it helped him to slow down and pay attention when he was struggling to cope with depression. "Mindfulness, for me, is a way of training the mind to be healthy."

Ed is an independent health writer and practices in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. He is the author of 'Up and Running: Exercise And The Treatment of Mild To Moderate Depression In Primary Care', as well of the Mental Health Foundation's 2010 report on mindfulness. www.edhalliwell.com

 

[DELATEXT]

Great maybe for some ??
but if your mind is a race track forget it!!
maybe that sounds harsh , it's not meant to,
I;m just fed up with people assuming this is a magic bullet,
it's maybe one of many options ??

 

[oneday]

Hi Delatext - yeah, of course, for some people only; there's no 'magic bullets' that work for everyone. It's just one of many options. But it's my thing - something that makes sense, and 'works' for me.

The article/report itself says the research showed that mindfulness can halve the rate of relapse into depression - so that's only half of people it's worked for anyway (?isn't it).

If your mind's a race track, more active, more excercise-based stuff is likely to work better anyway, or whatever gets you through best and doesn't do too much harm...