Written by: Leigh Fell
I met a gentleman recently who, in his 50s, simply does not believe that depression is a real thing: “Stop saying you had depression” he demanded of his friend – he believed the person in question just needed a holiday! Honestly, I was absolutely dumfounded by this school of thought and it made me wonder how on earth, in 2017, it could be possible for such a commonly occurring disease to be so dramatically misunderstood.
Thankfully a new wave, millennial generation seem to be far more in tune with the reality of the malady and this can be in no small part due to recent rise in openness from high profile celebs and particularly two valiant young princes.
In this 20th anniversary year of their mother’s death, the Duke of Cambridge and his younger brother have been especially vocal about the challenges they have faced and highlighted that mental health ought to be given the same level of attention as physical disorders.
If you broke a leg you wouldn’t expect your doctor to tell you to merely “think positively” to fix it. This is a sentiment with which I very much agree however, I would like to explore this thought further…
A green stick fracture may be set back in the correct position through surgery and plaster-work, however one would not be able to walk again without a great deal of long and often painful physiotherapy to rebuild the surrounding muscle.
In the same vein, we may use medication to re-set a chemical imbalance in the brain but we shouldn’t forget to also put in the hard work to reconstruct the strength of our minds(1).
There is plenty of literature out there regarding the effect of good nutrition and exercise on depression and nobody should every underestimate the impact a healthy body has in working towards a healthy mind. But what I’d like to potentially introduce to you (for those who haven’t already discovered it)(2) is the influence of mindfulness.
In what I now regard as a moment of complete enlightenment in my life, a friend(3) asked me recently if I would be a guinea pig for her as she worked towards her qualification in mindfulness and life coaching. Being a scientist, I have to admit that I assumed this was going to be some kind of spiritual nonsense but I dully signed up to her 10-week course and right from the first session I was an instant convert!
Starting with small things like keeping a daily gratitude journal and imagining certain feelings, to then more “soul searching” activities such as looking into mirrors (gosh that was an emotive session) to creating vision boards. One thing led to another and I found myself hooked on yoga and pranayama breathing exercises and even spending evenings reading useful books such as “How to win friends and influence people”(4). The course led to a total lifestyle transformation for me and subsequently I notice that my productivity, focus and motivation during office hours have also significantly improved.
So here’s the science bit: A study(5) published in the Lancet in 2015 demonstrated that Mindfullness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was equally as effective as some anti-depressant drugs in preventing recurrence of depression in people who had suffered two or more serious bouts previously. In fact, NICE have now endorsed within their guidelines(6) for the routine treatment of depression.
The World Health Organisation reports(7) that depression affects over 300 million people globally of all ages and is “the leading cause of disability.” I’m sure we all know someone close to us (perhaps even you yourself) who has suffered at some stage of their life. Why then, is this disease so misunderstood? And why are therapies such as MBCT so little known? I hope this will become a topic of much future research.
References:
1. Concept taken from a Buddhist teaching I listened to on Youtube but I can’t remember the name
2. This is not my concept I am simply a messenger and don’t know who to reference here.
3. Yoga & Wellness Coaching from Heather Gwenyth Bird. [Internet, cited 30Aug2017]. Available from: https://www.heathergwenbird.com/
4. Carnegie D. How to win friends and influence people. Vermilion. 2012
5. Kuyken W et al. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance antidepressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (PREVENT): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. 2015. Volume 386, No. 9988, p63–73
6. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Depression in adults: recognition and management [Internet, cited 30Aug2017]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90
7. World Health Organisation (WHO). Media centre, fact sheets, depression. [cited 30Aug2017]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/