A new study led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers found pregnant and postpartum women at risk of depression are less likely to suffer depression when they meditate or get in a yoga pose than when they are treated with psychotherapy and antidepressants.
The study focused on pregnant women with histories of depression. Forty-three subjects were randomized to a group that underwent mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and 43 subjects were assigned to a conventional treatment group.
Only 18 percent of the women in the mindfulness group experienced depression during pregnancy or after they gave birth, while 50 percent of the women in the conventional treatment group experienced depression.
Sona Dimidjian, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, led the study. Dimidjian says, “The choice between antidepressants and having untreated depression is not the only option. We know that women are going to have contact with the health-care system because they are pregnant, and now we have a good indication that there is a promising intervention that will help many women reduce their risk of depression.”
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For more information on mindfulness meditation, read “3 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation” in the Autumn 2015 issue of Body Sense magazine.