Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Join our live Google Hangout with our panel: 
Willem Kuyken (Oxford, UK)
Ben Goldacre (Oxford, UK)
André Tomlin (The Mental Elf)
Rod Taylor (Exeter, UK)
Sarah Byford (London, UK)
Michael Ostacher (Stanford, USA)
Andrea Cipriani (Oxford, UK)

[taichichihoxforduk]

Great to hear this discussion. I am both a scientist and a practitioner & teacher of a Mindfulness-based practice (a moving meditation in my case), plus I am one of those 'folks' who has experienced many relapses  into serious clinical depression. It appears that I am keeping myself well for the longest interval yet (!) through a combination of a maintenance level of antidepressants plus practicing & teaching the moving meditation. I feel that connecting with others with compassionate intention has a lot to do with me staying well too as the act of sharing a skill which might help others is very empowering and mood enhancing. As mentioned in the discussion, it would indeed be very interesting to see the results of a study which compares a group on medication alone with one with patients on medication+MBCT. In fact there was such a study of the moving meditation (Tai Chi Chih) in the USA which showed that the moving meditation augmented the effects of the medication by a significant improvement in resilience to stress in those patients who had a combination of the drug and the moving meditation. Giving the Patient a  CHOICE is very important to those who resist drug treatment because if the main treatment on offer is medication or waiting 6 months for a psychological intervention,  we are likely to continue to see a high suicide rate due to the intensity of suffering in deep depression being unbearable for many people who have an aversion to the drug-taking or find the side-effects too troublesome. Also, Willem made a vital point about giving the patient a skill to help prevent relapse - this is what we (& the NHS from a cost point-of-view) really need since we often have descended into illness by the time we make it into the GPs office. Triggers for depression can lead to a very fast decline into severe illness in my experience but if we are equipped with skills of observation and recognition of both triggers plus our habitual responses which we spot starting in our mind & body, then we can interrupt the downward habitual spiral and prevent relapse. I'm very glad to be well enough to comment - long may it last!!