The dread of relapse is one of the most insidious things associated with major depression.
If you’ve ever been depressed, you know it’s a place you don’t ever want to go to again. Yet people are often on pins and needles, worrying and waiting for the anchor of depression to come back.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Zindel Segal, PhD, a co-creator of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, says there is a way we can take action to prevent the relapse of depression. You can check out his thoughts here in this 3-minute video.
To learn about other mindfulness exercises we can use with patients, check out our other courses.
Have you ever used mindfulness with a depressed patient? If so, please tell us your experience in the comments.
I can attest of the validity of the pratice of Vipassana Meditation as a healing process
to help find the healing of relapse of depression.
1st episode: nov 1993
2 relapse : summer 1999
3 relapse : spring 2005
Start in jan. 2006 MBSR
so in 2006 12 weeks MBSR x 3 + 4 Days Intensive Daylong Vipassana
2007 12 weeks MBSR x 3 + 7 Days Intensive Daylong Vipassana
2008 12 weeks MBSR x 3 + 4 Days Intensive Daylong Vipassana
2009 12 weeks MBSR x 3 + 4 Days Intensive Daylong Vipassana
2010 12 weeks MBSR x 3 + 4 Days Intensive Daylong Vipassana
2011 12 weeks MBSR x 3 +2 Days 7 hours Daylong Vipassana
2012 12 weeks MBSR x 3 +2 Days 7 hours Daylong Vipassana
So I will terminate in december 2012, 84 weeks of practice of Vipassana meditation
after succeeding having a daily practice starting in november 2006.
So, no relapse since starting MBSR & MBCT under the guidance of PhD-Psy with over 35
experience.
Life is beautiful
Just keep practicing.
Have a very good day !
Have a g
Thank you very much, very helpful.
I love the information presented on this website but find it so frustrating that my organization (State Governement) blocks utube videos so i can’t get the information at work to share with clients.
I am a firm believer in mindfulness and how it can help prevent relapses into depression. The challenge is getting people to utilize mindfulness strategies and tools when they are already depressed. I work on this regularly with my depressed clients, and those who are willing to take that leap of faith and embrace mindfulness as a means to feeling better do remarkably better than those who are resistant to it.
I cannot believe the timeliness of this program for me. I just returned home from a Physciatric facility after attempting suicide.
I’m convinced of the value of mindfulness (disclosure: meditating since 1976). I was thrilled to learn Segal, and colleagues Williams and Teasdale, had contacted Kabt-Zinn about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and utilized that consultation in the development of Segal et al.’s (2002) Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The evidence is pretty solid that MBCT can cut the incidence of relapse roughly in half. The proposal that MBCT is a depression treatment per se is also very encouraging. Thanks, Ruth, for giving this heads-up to a larger audience.
Algriht alright alright that’s exactly what I needed!
It is true that people are fearful of experiencing depression and many other mental health issues such as panic and anxiety. I have found mind- body approaches to be helpful. Talking with people about what is “normal and expected” seems to help — it is expected to experience depression following a loss. I often challenge the global thinking that comes with depression both in discussions and in trance work. I am looking forward to the next webinar and learning about the current research.