Mantra meditation as adjunctive therapy in major depression: A randomized controlled trial
Journal of Affective Disorders Reports September 17, 2021 Holger C Bringmann, Aline Sulz, Philipp Ritter et al.
Adding mantra meditation to usual inpatient care for major depression led to greater reductions in clinician-rated depression severity than adding progressive muscle relaxation. At 3-month follow-up, the mantra meditation group scored about 4.8 points lower on the MADRS depression scale, and at 6-month follow-up about 6.2 points lower, both differences favoring mantra meditation. Self-reported depression did not differ significantly between groups after treatment. The benefit appeared mainly in mood rather than cognitive symptoms. The study involved 123 inpatients at a psychiatric hospital who were diagnosed with major depression.