Being mindful involves paying close attention to the present moment without passing judgment. The practitioner gains the ability to stop worrying about the future and ruminating on the past. This can be challenging, especially for those who are depressed or anxious, but if successful, it can provide long-lasting relief.
A therapy known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which is, as its name suggests, based on mindfulness skills, is increasingly being provided by NHS mental health facilities. An evidence-based group treatment is MBCT. It combines cognitive therapy (learning how to control and alter one’s negative thought patterns) with training in mindfulness techniques and skills. For those who have experienced three or more bouts of depression, MBCT appears to be particularly beneficial in lowering the chance of relapse.We are beginning to understand how mindfulness techniques and therapy function in reducing the symptoms of depression as the quality and scope of MBCT research continues to rise. Despite this, some people are still dubious about mindfulness generally and MBCT specifically.
Both individuals who mistakenly believe that mindfulness is just meditation and those who believe it has been twisted into a therapy from its Buddhist roots may disagree with mindfulness.Other detractors (right) cite studies that indicate no discernible advantage of MBCT over antidepressant medications. Studies demonstrating comparable results for those undergoing MBCT and those taking antidepressants could be used as evidence against MBCT. Nonetheless, for some people, learning coping mechanisms to prevent depression could appear preferable to long-term pharmaceutical use.
There are currently credible studies demonstrating the effectiveness of MBCT in preventing depressive relapse, especially for people who have already undergone repeated relapses and those who have suffered childhood trauma.What about the mechanisms behind MBCT? How does mindfulness training reduce depression? First, as we would expect, MBCT is meant to increase people’s mindfulness skills – non-judgemental acceptance, being able to see thoughts as just thoughts rather than as commands that have to be acted on – and people who rate themselves as having higher levels of mindfulness skills at the end of therapy are at less risk of relapsing than those taking antidepressants. Having these skills helps people notice their own tendencies to fall into negative thinking cycles, and then to be able to stand back rather react emotionally to them.
Beyond this, there are indirect mechanisms of MBCT affecting depression. “Indirect” means that MBCT changes a way of thinking or feeling, and this change then reduces the risk of depressive relapse.
