January 15, 2010
By Angela Hussain

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Meditation could “prevent thousands of people from relapsing into depression every year," the head of a leading mental health charity claims

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, made the statement on the day that a report from his charity urged for mindfulness – a form of Buddhist meditation - to be widely available on prescription.

In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended mindfulness-based cognitive therapy courses for people who had had depression at least three times.

NICE reported that In two clinical trials mindfulness training halved the rate of relapse for people with recurrent depression ‑ in the first trial, 10 years ago, from 66% to 37% and in the second, in 2004, from 78% to 36%.

But, only one in five GPs has access to a course to enroll patients.

Mindfulness is described in the Mental Health Foundation report published this month as "a way of paying attention to the present moment by using meditation, yoga and breathing techniques".

See also: Service provision

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