Meditation and reducing depression; MBCT April 2, 2008
Posted by Philip Ryan in Meditation.trackback
Scientists in Britain study meditation and its effects on the brain. (The government funds this?) The popular Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is discussed.
MBCT is recommended for people who are not currently depressed, but who have had three or more bouts of depression in their lives.
Trials suggest that the course reduces the likelihood of another attack of depression by over 50%.
The National Health Service pays for MBCT.
I am confused by the goals of the study. I was under the impression that mindfulness had as a core principle of being OK with what you are mindful of while seeing the truth in it. If you are mindful of your depression, why would you be looking to reduce it? Doesn’t mindfulness mean that you would understand depression to the point that you would see it as a part of spiritual growth? There is a great book called The Depression Advantage that is about spiritual growth and the role that depression can play in it. The website for it is http://www.depressionadvantage.com and it would be great if Tricycle would do an article about that.