Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy offers a similar level of protection against relapses of depression to antidepressants, according to the results of a new trial published in The Lancet.

Share on Pinterest Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy works by teaching people the skills to identify and respond constructively to thoughts and feelings linked with depression.

“Depression is a recurrent disorder. Without ongoing treatment, as many as 4 out of 5 people with depression relapse at some point,” says lead author Willem Kuyken, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford in the UK.

Antidepressants are currently the key maintenance treatment for preventing relapse – studies report that antidepressants reduce the likelihood of relapse by up to two thirds when taken correctly.

“However,” says study co-author Prof. Richard Byng, from the Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry in the UK, “there are many people who, for a number of different reasons, are unable to keep on a course of medication for depression. Moreover, many people do not wish to remain on medication for indefinite periods, or cannot tolerate its side effects.”

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) works by teaching people who have experienced depression the skills to identify thoughts and feelings linked with depression when they encounter them. By responding constructively to these depressive thoughts, a full relapse may be avoided.

The UK-based researchers recruited 424 adults for their study who had recurrent major depression and were taking antidepressants. The participants were randomly assigned to either stay on their medication or to slowly come off their antidepressants and receive MBCT.

The 212 participants in the MBCT group attended eight group sessions that lasted for 2.5 hours each, which also involved daily homework exercises. These participants were also given the option of attending four follow-up sessions over a year-long period.