Holistic therapy more effective against postpartum depression than
conventional therapy
Jan. 14, 2016
Sona Dimidjian
A new study led by CU-Boulder has found that holistic therapy, instead of
conventional techniques that include antidepressants, is more effective at
helping postpartum women at risk of depression. The study, led by Sona
Dimidjian, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the
university, found that pregnant and postpartum women at risk of depression
are significantly less likely to suffer depression when they practice mindfulness
techniques during pregnancy.
CUT 1 “The practice of mindfulness is about noticing and becoming familiar
with the way in which your mind works and then developing the skill of
bringing your attention back to your direct and immediate experience. (:15)
And it’s really about learning to work with your daily experience in a new kind
of way.” (:21)
The study focused on pregnant women with histories of depression.
Researchers randomly assigned 43 pregnant women to eight sessions of
mindfulness-based therapy while 43 were assigned to more conventional
treatments. Women treated with mindfulness-based therapy learned
meditation, yoga and strategies to relate differently to negative thoughts.
CUT 2 “We start with the practice of mindful eating because really it’s
intended to help people realize that you don’t need anything complex or
anything fancy. (:13) So we guide women through the practice of eating
mindfully. Noticing what the food looks like. What is smells like. What it tastes
like and noticing how often when we are eating that our attention is in other
places. (:30) Thinking about the past. Thinking about the future. How often
we’re worrying about things that haven’t happened yet or reviewing in ways
that can be negative or self critical about things that have happened in the
past.” (:44)
Dimidjian says the act of being mindful teaches people to recognize habitual
ways in which they respond to stress or emotional situations that have
triggered bouts of depression in the past.
CUT 3 “In moments when someone is under stress these habits that we have
of where our tension go, what happens with our emotions, the ways in which
we react in automatic and kind of habitual ways, those can be very powerful.
(:15) Now mindfulness is something that is particularly helpful in developing
new habits of mind that can help people become aware at those moments
when they’re vulnerable to getting pulled into that kind of pattern.” (:31)
In particular, Dimidjian says, women tend to dwell on their emotions much
more than men, especially women who have been depressed in the past. She
says mindfulness techniques help them to recognize depression traps.
CUT 4 “One of the things that is compelling is that there is a way in which
women may be more vulnerable to what we talk about in psychology as
‘ruminating,’ which is the tendency to think about emotions and to think
about problems in a way that people dwell on them, (:20) that women brood
on experiences of the past or worry about potential experiences in the future.
And then the way in which the mind can run away with itself.” (:32)
As she continues her study of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Dimidjian
is analyzing the efficacy of web-based treatment sessions. She says that work
has shown initial promise but needs further study.
-CU-