Mindfulness Based Therapy as Effective as Antidepressants?

Can therapy be as effective as antidepressants? A new study shows that mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MCBT) is as effective. Read the article below to see just how much.

Mindfulness Therapy Works as Well as Antidepressants, Major Study Finds

The new study is the largest-ever analysis of its kind on the subject.

By Rachel Dicker | Associate Editor, Social Media April 28, 2016, at 3:55 p.m.

Mindfulness has long been known to positively influence mental health.

And according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can be an effective alternative or supplement to commonly prescribed antidepressants in treating depression.

Patients who received MBCT were almost a third less likely to experience a relapse of depressive symptoms during the next 60 weeks than those who did not, researchers reportedly found.

According to the Independent, the study marks "the largest-ever analysis of research on the subject."

“While MBCT is not a panacea, it does clearly offer those with a substantial history of depression a new approach to learning skills to stay well in the long term,” William Kuyken – an Oxford University professor, director of the Oxford Mindfulness Center, and lead author of the study – said in a statement.

Mindfulness has also been shown to be effective – and maybe even better than medication – in treating physical ailments.