Mindfulness Therapy May Be More Effective Without Antidepressants

By
-
7
553

While an estimated 74-percent of patients diagnosed with major depression receive a prescription for an antidepressant, new research reveals that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be most helpful when drugs are not used. The study, published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, found that the participants in a randomized control trial for MBCT who showed the greatest improvement were those who had not taken antidepressants.

psychotherapyandpsychosomaticsThe researchers explain that antidepressants are known to reduce the neural processing of both rewarding and aversive stimuli, causing “emotional blunting,” and that this may prevent the generation of positive emotions that are essential for therapy.

“Since the generation of positive emotions is crucial in the initiation of a positive spiral towards recovery, long-term outcomes of this contingent inhibiting effect of antidepressants on psychotherapy outcome in terms of positive affect will have to be investigated in more detail in experimental set-ups,” the researchers conclude.

 

“If our findings are replicated it would implicate that the sequential addition of psychotherapy to antidepressants could be less efficient than discontinuing antidepressants before/during receiving psychotherapy especially for improving long-term outcomes.”

 

****

Bakker, J.M., Lieverse, R., Geschwind, N., Peeters, F., Myin-Germeys, I. and Wichers, M., 2016. The Two-Sided Face of Antidepressants: The Impact of Their Use on Real-Life Affective Change during Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 85(3), pp.180-182. (Full Text)

Previous article“New Course on ‘Making Sense’ of Trauma, Creating a Coherent Narrative”
Next articleAre DNA Changes the Link Between Poverty and Mental Illness?
Justin Karter
Justin Karter
Justin M. Karter, PhD, leads research news coverage and editorial strategy at Mad in America. He is the Acting Program Director of the PsyD in Clinical Psychology & Psychological Humanities at Boston College and part-time faculty with the Center for Psychological Humanities & Ethics. His scholarship examines historical and cultural formations of mind, subjectivity, and personhood; the roles of activist movements and lived-experience communities, including the consumer/survivor/ex-patient (C/S/X) tradition; and how mental health discourses shape institutions, practices, and identities. He works across mad studies, critical psychology, philosophy of psychology, and rights-based global mental health. Methodologically, he specializes in critical qualitative inquiry and psychotherapy process research grounded in intersubjective and phenomenological approaches. He is the President of APA Division 24 (2025-26) and serves on the Executive Board of Division 32. Previously, he was a Research Officer to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. He earned his PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where his dissertation examined psychosocial disability advocacy in the global mental health movement. He also holds graduate degrees in Journalism and Community Psychology from Point Park University.
Mail

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

7 COMMENTS

  3. I think this also occurs in recovery from psychosis. Unless you’re really in confusion about your emotions and in need of a crutch, it’s optimal to handle emotions when they’re fresh. How else can we relate to them (emotions) if we forget the thoughts that we’ve had that stay mostly private and actions that we’ve made as a result? If we avoid the challenges of real expression, in whatever form, be it therapy, art, or just self-discipline and allowing ourselves to heal naturally, we may lose the opportunity to heal altogether.

    When dealing with severe emotions especially, I’ve found that riding to the very bottom now that negativity, within reason, is crucial to being able to continue to respect yourself and understand the crazy things that have happened. Putting it off for a few years will distance you from the pain and the mindset, making it hard to remember the bulk of the thoughts you’ve had.

    Report comment

LEAVE A REPLY