Among the toughest decisions anyone will make during his or her adult life when faced with treating a mental health issue that's spiraled out of control: Choosing to take an antidepressant drug -- or not -- and all the stray feelings of relief and guilt that come with it. Perhaps, that decision would be much easier and clear-cut, if the benefits of an alternative treatment, like meditation, were similar to that of taking an antidepressant.

Canadian researchers came to that non-pharmacological conclusion after monitoring the mental health of 84 patients (age 18-65), whose depression had been successfully treated with an antidepressant for eight months and were in remission, for 18 months. As they were about to stop taking their meds, patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: Those who continued taking an antidepressant, others who were given a placebo in place of a drug and a third group who stopped taking a drug and were trained to use mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), fueled by meditation. After MBCT training, patients were required to schedule daily 40-minute sessions for meditation and mindfulness exercises.

Among the three groups, relapse rates were lowest among patients trained in MBCT (38 percent), compared to those treated with a prescription drug (46 percent) or a placebo (60 percent).

Considering how effective it can be in relieving the emotions that trigger pain, we're not surprised about the efficacy of mindful meditation when it comes to treating depression.

Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 67, No. 12, p. 1256-1264, December 2010

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