A British study that pitted traditional Buddhist meditation against antidepressant drugs to treat depression found that meditation prevented more relapses.
Fifteen months after an eight-week trial, only 47 percent of people using meditation suffered a relapse, compared with 60 percent of those taking anti-depressants, The Telegraph reported.
“Antidepressants are widely used by people who suffer from depression and that’s because they tend to work,” said professor Willem Kuyken of the Mood Disorders Centre at the University of Exeter. “But while they’re very effective in helping reduce the symptoms of depression, when people come off them they are particularly vulnerable to relapse.”
The meditative technique known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy works differently. It helps people learn to focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past or thinking of the future. “It teaches people skills for life,” Kuyken said.
The therapy is also cost effective since one psychologist could treat many people at the same time in a group psychology setting.
“What we have shown is that when people work at it, these skills for life help keep people well,” Kuyken said.
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