Patients with subthreshold depression in primary care can be treated with mindfulness meditation training, which helps reduce the incidence of major depression and improves depression symptoms.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is awareness of actuality and being in a non-judgemental state. It gives peace of mind, self-friendship and a sense of being in present.
Mindfulness meditation is awareness of actuality and being in a non-judgemental state. It gives peace of mind, self-friendship and a sense of being in present.
‘Mindfulness meditation training is the possible method that helps prevent major depression.’
Intervention participants were invited to attend weekly two-hour mindfulness training sessions for eight consecutive weeks. At 12 months, there was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of major depressive disorder between groups (11 percent in the mindfulness group compared to 27 percent in usual care).
Mindfulness training also had a small effect in reducing depression symptoms (between-group mean difference = 3.85).
Other secondary outcomes demonstrated no significant change.
The authors suggest that, for patients with subthreshold depression who have not had a major depressive episode in the past six months, mindfulness training is a feasible method of preventing major depression.
Advertisement
Advertisement
