excerpted from chapter 23 of Dealing with Depression Naturally, copyright (c) 1995 by Syd BaumelMeditationEvery day millions of North Americans take time off to meditate. Often it's on the advice of their doctors, for research suggests meditation is a stress-relief tool par excellence, good for whatever ails you, and then some (e.g. 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,10). Psychologically, meditators tend to become less tense, less neurotic, less addictive (4,6,10,17); more empathic, loving, flexible, intelligent, creative, and productive (2,6). And less depressed. Meditation, some therapists report, can be very helpful for people who suffer chronically from mild depression (18). Controlled studies have generally concurred (4,10). In a well-designed trial from Princeton University, most of 76 mildly depressed, "stressed out" subjects improved markedly within six weeks of learning to meditate. Non-meditating controls improved only slightly (1). Meditation's value for major depression is less certain. One research group found transcendental meditation (TM) unhelpful for severely depressed patients who were very slowed down, but highly effective for those who were agitated (19). Curiously, therapists have reported that severely depressed patients often have to be coaxed to keep meditating, especially when they start to feel better(18,19,20). "I had my own feelings back again," is how one tough customer -- referring to her depressive feelings -- described the benefits of not meditating anymore to Princeton psychologist Patricia Carrington (18). Adjunctive psychotherapy can make meditation more agreeable to depressives, just as meditation, according to the American Psychiatric Association, can make psychotherapy more effective (7).
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N O T E S1. P. Carrington et al., "The Use of Meditation-Relaxation Techniques for the Management of Stress in a Working Population," Journal of Occupational Medicine, 22 (April 1980): 221-231.2. P. Carrington, "Meditation Techniques in Clinical Practice." In Lawrence Edwin Abt and Irving R. Stuart, eds., The Newer Therapies: A Sourcebook (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982), pp. 60-78. 4. M. M. Delmonte, "Psychometric Scores and Meditation Practice: A Literature Review," Personality and Individual Differences, 5 (5, 1984): 559-563. 6. Robert Roth, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1987). 18. Patricia Carrington, Freedom in Meditation (Garden City, N. Y.: Anchor Press, 1977). |
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