Mindfulness meditation may lower major depression risk

 Hong Kong, March 14: Mindfulness meditation training may improve depression symptoms and reduce the incidence of major depression, a new study suggests. Patients with clinically significant symptoms of depression who do not meet the criteria for major depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder are considered to have sub-threshold depression. According to the researchers from The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care in Hong Kong, sub-threshold depression can cause functiol impairment and considerable economic costs, and it is a strong risk factor for developing major depressive disorder. The study undertook a randomised controlled trial to assess the efficacy of group-based behavioural activation with mindfulness (BAM) for treating sub-threshold depression. The researchers recruited adult patients aged 18 and above with sub-threshold depression from public primary care clinics and randomly assigned them to a BAM intervention group or a usual care group. They randomly allocated 115 patients to the BAM intervention and 116 patients to usual care.