Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has been found as equally effective as medication against depression-related relapses, according to a new study from Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
MCBT is a group-based therapy that teaches patients to recognize and manage triggers which could lead to a relapse, without the aid of antidepressants.
CAMH researchers worked with 84 volunteers who met the DSM-IV criteria for major depression, had suffered at least two previous episodes, and were now in remission. The patients were randomly selected to receive one of three treatments: discontinue their antidepressants and instead attend eight group sessions of MCBT, or continue with prescribed drug therapy, or receive placebos.
The rate of relapse for those undergoing MCBT was 28 percent, almost identical to the 27 percent rate of relapse for those on drug therapy. By contrast, those who were receiving placebos had a relapse rate of 71 percent, says the report, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
It is important, therefore, that patients in remission from major depression continue to receive some form of treatment, but MCBT provides a viable alternative to those who do not wish to continue with long-term drug therapy and the associated side-effects.