Morning Glories in Flowers and Buds by Hokusai
Just a quick note today about a study Adjunctive yoga v. health education for persistent major depression: a randomized controlled trial on depression and yoga I just learned about that showed that yoga is effective as an adjunct for improving depression in individuals who are taking anti-depressants. Because anti-depressants are not always effective on their own, these researchers decided to study the effectiveness of hatha yoga as an adjunct treatment. According to sciencedaily.com, the lead scientist, Dr. Uebelacker, said:"We hypothesized that yoga participants would show lower depression severity over time as assessed by the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology (QIDS), as well as better social and role functioning, better general health perceptions and physical functioning, and less physical pain relative to the control group," said Dr. Uebelacker. "We found that yoga did indeed have an impact on depression symptoms.
In the largest study of yoga for depression to date, the researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial on individuals who were taking anti-depressants but were still experiencing symptoms of depression. Sixty three of the subjects were given a weekly yoga class. The control group of 59 subjects were given health education classes (the Healthy Living Workshop). All the subjects were assessed after ten weeks, with follow-up assessments after three and six months. Although they did not find significant differences between the two groups after the initial ten-week assessment, the follow-up assessments showed that the yoga group had lower levels of depression and improved in other ways as well.
In their abstract, the researchers reported:
"At 10 weeks, we did not find a statistically significant difference between groups in depression symptoms (b = −0.82, s.e. = 0.88, p = 0.36). However, over the entire intervention and follow-up period, when controlling for baseline, yoga participants showed lower levels of depression than HLW participants (b = −1.38, s.e. = 0.57, p = 0.02). At 6-month follow-up, 51% of yoga participants demonstrated a response (⩾50% reduction in depression symptoms) compared with 31% of HLW participants (odds ratio = 2.31; p = 0.04). Yoga participants showed significantly better social and role functioning and general health perceptions over time. "
Although we did not see a difference in depression symptoms at the end of the intervention period, yoga participants showed fewer depression symptoms over the entire follow-up period. Benefits of yoga may accumulate over time."
According to sciencedaily.com, Dr. Uebelacker put it this way:
"We did not see statistically significant differences between hatha yoga and a control group (health education) at 10 weeks, however, when we examined outcomes over a period of time including the three and six months after yoga classes ended, we found yoga was superior to health education in alleviating depression symptoms."
I have a couple of observations about this. First, it’s good to hear that yoga does work well as adjunct with western medicine for improving depression! We’ve been recommending that for a long time (see No Shame, Please! (Western Medicine and Yoga are Complementary)).
Also it’s not at all surprising to me that the effects of yoga are cumulative (see Take Your Time: Results from Yoga Practice). Most of yoga’s effects do take time. After all, whether you’re talking about improving flexibility, quieting the mind, or fostering emotional healing, a single hatha yoga class is not a magic pill that works with just one dose! It’s actually quite impressive to me that only one yoga class per week had significant effects, as most yoga teachers would recommend three classes per week (or one class plus regular home practice) to see benefits.
Unfortunately I’m unable to access the full study, so many questions remain. For example, what were the students learning in their yoga classes? Were they just learning everyday yoga or was the program specially tailored for them? And did they continue practicing at home after the study was over?
But all in all it’s definitely encouraging to hear about yet another study showing the benefits of yoga for emotional healing.
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