Depression: Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

What is depression?
Depression is very common. Up to one in ten adults have experienced clinical depression in the last year. 20% of adults become severely depressed at some point in their lives. Depression involves both biological changes in the way the brain works and psychological changes – the way we think and feel.

Should I be taking antidepressants?
When you have been depressed in the past, your doctor may have prescribed antidepressants. These work through their effects on the chemical messengers in your brain. In depression, these chemical messengers have often become run down, lowering mood and energy levels, and disturbing sleep and appetite. Correcting these brain chemicals may take time, but most people experience improvements in 6 to 8 weeks.
Although antidepressants generally work well in reducing depression, they are not a permanent cure - their effects continue only so long as you keep taking the pills. Your doctor could continue to prescribe antidepressants for months, or even years, since this is now the recommended way to use antidepressants if further depression is to be prevented by this means.

Can I take antidepressants and attend this course?
It is often useful to combine medical treatments for treating depression, which act on the brain, with psychological approaches, which teach new ways to deal with thoughts and feelings. However, many people prefer to use other ways to prevent further depression. This is the purpose of the course you will be attending.

What is the purpose of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy?
Whatever caused your depression in the first place, the experience of depression itself has a number of after-effects. One of these is the likelihood that you will become depressed again. The purpose of these classes is to improve your chance of preventing further depression. In the classes, you will learn skills to help you handle your thoughts and feelings differently.

How many people will there be in a class?
Since many people have had depression and are at risk of further depression, you will learn these skills in a class with other people who have been depressed. There may be up to 40 people in the class. In eight two-and-a-half hour sessions, the class will meet to learn new ways of dealing with what goes on in our minds, and to share and review experiences of practising this with other class members.

Will I have to do home-practice between classes?
The success of this approach depends on your willingness to do practice between class meetings. We will be working to change patterns of mind that often have been around for a long time. We can only expect to succeed if we put time and effort into learning skills. This includes listening to CDs, performing brief exercises and keeping a simple diary of what you have been doing.

What if I don’t have time?
We appreciate that it is often difficult to carve out time in an already busy life to do the home-practice. We’ll be encouraging you to do what you can to help yourself stay well. The more you can commit to practising between classes the more you will benefit from the course.

Will it bring up painful feelings?
The course teaches us how to be more fully aware. The good news is that this makes life more interesting, vivid and fulfilling. It also means facing what is present, even when it is unpleasant and difficult. Turning to face and acknowledge difficulties is the most effective way, in the long run, to reduce unhappiness.

Does it work?
Studies show that MBCT is especially effective for people who have suffered from at least three previous episodes of depression. However, we will be trying to change well-established habits of mind, and the results of doing that may only become apparent later. We ask you to approach the course with patience and persistence, putting time and effort into what will be asked of you, while accepting that the benefits may not show up straight away.

Will I have to reveal myself to strangers?
You will not have to reveal anything you do not want to. The course focuses on current experience and how to work with relapse-provoking thoughts and emotions – it is not about trying to find the cause of your depression.

What if I am nervous about coming alone?
If you let us know beforehand, we can arrange for you to have a chat with someone on the phone first. A team leader will be happy to meet you a little before the class to show you in and keep an eye on you until you feel settled in the group.

Do I need to be interested in Buddhism to attend?
No. This is not a Buddhist course.