Meditation and Depression: A New Way To Think About Things
21September

Meditation and Depression: A New Way To Think About Things

Posted on , in Section Stress Relief

Depression is a problem that thousands of Americans struggle with, and researchers—as well as those afflicted—have been searching for decades on the best way to treat it. There are medications and therapy programs, exercising your body and of course—your mind.

More and more studies are emerging about the benefits that meditation provides those suffering from depression. Meditation is the focusing of the mind, often in silence and solidarity, and the concentration away from one’s darker feelings or problems.

In connection with depression, scientists say that daily meditation could help reduce not only stress levels that contribute to being depressed, but help to take away the sad feeling that so many can’t seem to shake.

"Many people have the idea that meditation means just sitting quietly and doing nothing," wrote Dr. Madhav Goyal, a lead researcher at John Hopkins University. "That is not true. It is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways" (reuters.com).

Many people have found meditation to be immensely helpful for all sorts of things, most especially to gain clarity of the mind. However, most scientists believe that it is not necessarily the most helpful for depression; while relaxation and serenity is never a bad thing for anyone, most especially those who are sad, depression is something much deeper in the mind than mere sadness.

Very often, medical intervention is needed for those with depression, and that is still a good thing. Each person should consult with their doctor on a treatment program that is best for them. Meditating may not help completely, but it would be inaccurate to say that it would harm anything. Still, Dr. Goyal warns against looking at meditation as an absolute cure.

"Rather, it is a path we travel on to increase our awareness and gain insight into our lives," he said. "The best reason to meditate is to gain this insight. Improvements in health conditions are really a side benefit, and it's best to think of them that way."