A recent study published in BMC Medicine provides surprising evidence that a nation’s depression rates are correlated to its economic affluence; it seems that richer countries have more depressed people! The United States, interestingly, has the second highest lifetime rate of depression, at 19.2%, among all countries included in the study. Furthermore, clinical depression affects approximately 121 million people worldwide; depression is a serious mental health disorder across the planet. Possibly even more surprising, however, is that meditation, especially in the “varieties” known as transcendental and mindfulness meditation, seems to effectively combat depression at a level that rivals, or even surpasses, that of anti-depressant medication. Can this natural treatment for depression really be better than Prozac?
Mindfulness meditation is a form of meditation based on Buddhist meditation principles that that promotes accepting a stable present as opposed to ruminating over the past, which can lead to depressive thoughts. According to the results of a controlled experiment published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , the group that practiced mindfulness meditation experienced a 47% relapse of depressive symptoms, whereas the group that continued with normal, antidepressant medication had a 60% relapse of depressive symptoms! This scientific study suggests that mindfulness meditation is one of the natural treatments for depression that are more effective than medication. Therefore, those that suffer from clinical depression should look into mindfulness meditation as a form of natural treatment.
Transcendental meditation, a form of meditation that purportedly brings one to the source of conscious thought where one experiences “transcendental bliss,” can also be an effective natural treatment for depression according to a controlled experiment led by Professor Hector Myers. The group that practiced transcendental meditation experienced a 48% reduction in depressive symptoms, which was much better than the group that simply had a class in health education. Therefore, both transcendental and mindfulness meditation should be considered by depression patients as powerful natural treatments for depression.
While I myself have been fortunate enough to not have suffered from clinical depression so far in my life, I know a few friends who have suffered from depression and have received treatment for it. One of them did not want to depend on drugs in order to relieve his depressive symptoms, so he decided to look into meditation as a form of treatment. He attended group mindfulness meditation sessions and reported that he had never felt so free and relieved of depression after about a month of group mindfulness meditation. His psychiatrist, coincidentally, also mentioned that he consider transcendental meditation. Thus, I myself have anecdotal evidence that meditation can serve as an effective natural treatment for depression.
In conclusion, transcendental meditation and mindfulness meditation can function as solid treatments for depression. While the research does concede that meditation does not resolve depressive symptoms 100% of the time, the research suggests meditation may be a natural treatment for depression whose effectiveness rivals that of antidepressant drugs. I hope that many depression patients ask about meditation as opposed to drugs for treatment, as meditation teaches one life-long skills that will forever combat depression, whereas drugs generally only serve as temporary treatments. (All drugs will eventually cause one to develop a tolerance to them so that a higher dosage is needed to obtain the same results.) Without a doubt, meditation is a very promising natural treatment for depression that needs to be further popularized among the psychiatric community.
