Meditation Not Medication for Depression

Three quarters of GPs have prescribed anti-depressants even though they thought a different kind of treatment would be effective, according to a survey for a leading mental health charity

A report for The Mental Health Foundation says many patients with recurrent depression are not getting access to therapies like meditation.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was recommended for people who suffer repeated bouts of depression by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in 2004. However, the report called ‘Be Mindful’ says that, five years later, only one in five GPs say they can get the treatment for their patients, and only one in 20 prescribe it regularly.

Depression facts
The Mental Health Foundation says depression affects one in 10 people and costs the economy £7.5 billion a year.

The number of prescriptions made each year for antidepressants in England has doubled in a decade to 36 million in 2008. (More)

Source: WebMD