30 minutes of meditation can help curb anxiety and depression

About 30 minutes of meditation daily could help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression, says a study. Researcher Madhav Goyal said meditation appeared to provide as much relief from some anxiety and depression symptoms as what other studies have found from antidepressants. 

Researchers evaluated the degree to which those symptoms changed in people who had medical conditions like insomnia or fibromyalgia, although only a minority had been diagnosed with a mental illness. They discovered that so-called ‘mindfulness meditation’ — a form of Buddhist self-awareness designed to focus precise, non-judgmental attention to the moment — showed promise in alleviating some pain symptoms and stress. 

To conduct their review, investigators focused on clinical trials performed last year among 3,515 participants that involved meditation and mental and physical health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, substance use, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic pain. They found moderate evidence of improvement in symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain after participants underwent what was typically an eight week training programme in m i n d f u l n e s s meditation. 

Courtesy: TOI, 9th Jan 2014