Mindfulness may combat 'hard to treat' depression

People with hard-to-treat depression may benefit from a type of therapy which includes meditation, researchers have found.

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Only half of people with depression feel well again after NHS Talking Therapies, academics said. But offering an additional course of mindful cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered through a weekly video call, could help reduce symptoms for people with difficult-to-treat depression, according to their new study.

NHS talking Therapies, which has been dubbed one of the most ambitious treatment services of its kind in the world, offered treatment to 1.83 million people in 2023/24.

People whose symptoms do not respond to low-intensity treatment, or who present with more complex illnesses, are offered high-intensity treatment.

But figures suggest that 50% of people with depression who complete high-intensity therapies still have lingering symptoms - also known as difficult-to-treat depression.

Academics said there has been little research into treatment options when people with depression have not shown remission of symptoms during a previous psychological therapy, as they set out to examine whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could help.