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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How mindfulness therapy could help those left behind by depression treatment
For some people, depression is like an unwanted guest who moves in and refuses to leave. Even with therapy and medication, the heavy fog of low mood, exhaustion and hopelessness never fully lifts for long. For around 30% of people with depression, this is a daily reality. It's not just a personal burden. Difficult-to-treat depression affects families, workplaces and communities – and carries a huge cost for society. In England, the NHS Talking Therapies programme is the first place many adults turn when they're struggling with depression or anxiety. In 2023-24, it supported more than 1.26 million people. Yet, for all its reach, around half of those who complete treatment still feel depressed by the end. And if the therapy hasn't worked, there are often no further options available. Most people in this situation are sent back to their GP. A small number may be referred to more specialist mental health services, but those are typically reserved for the most severe cases. That leaves a significant number of people in limbo – still unwell, but without a clear route to further care. Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK's latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. This is part of a wider problem in mental health services: the so-called 'missing middle'. These are people whose needs are too complex for primary (GP) care, but not severe enough for secondary services. As a result, they fall through the cracks. For many of these people, medication is often the only treatment on offer. But our study, with colleagues, suggests that a different approach, using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), could offer a way forward. We worked with more than 200 patients who had completed NHS Talking Therapies but were still experiencing symptoms of depression. Half were offered an eight-week MBCT course, delivered in small online groups. The others continued with their usual care. MBCT blends traditional cognitive therapy (which aims to reduce negative thinking patterns) with intensive mindfulness training. Participants learn how to stay present, recognise harmful thought spirals early, and respond to difficult emotions with greater awareness and compassion. Most importantly, they gain skills they can use for the rest of their lives. The results were promising. People who took part in the mindfulness programme reported bigger improvements in their depressive symptoms than those who didn't. Six months later, the benefits had not only lasted – they had consolidated and slightly strengthened. What's more, those in the MBCT group used fewer health and social care services overall. The programme was also inexpensive to run, costing less than £100 per person. In a time when health systems are under extreme financial pressure, that's a big deal. Our research suggests MBCT is not just effective, it's cost-saving too. When depression doesn't respond to standard treatment, it can upend lives. People may struggle to work, maintain relationships, or care for their families. Children are especially affected when a parent has long-term depression. Without the right support, things often get worse – and the costs, both personal and financial, continue to grow. MBCT is already being used for relapse prevention – and there is a trained workforce to deliver it. Consisting of just eight group-based sessions, it is accessible and designed to equip people with practical tools. We believe it can offer hope to those who do not benefit sufficiently from existing services, and should be made available to more people. Beyond the promise of MBCT itself, this research offers a wider message: we need to invest in psychological therapies for people in the 'missing middle'. These are people who are often overlooked but stand to gain the most from targeted, practical support. In times of tight budgets, the idea that we can improve lives and save money is more than compelling – it's necessary. This is a clear opportunity to improve outcomes, reduce strain on overstretched services, and help people move forward with their lives. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Thorsten Barnhofer is the author of a book on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). He regularly provides workshops on mindfulness-based interventions. He is co-investigator of a programme grant evaluating an adapted MBCT course for adolescents experiencing depression and is among the investigators for the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit-funded trial described in this article. Barney Dunn receives funding from the National Institute of Health Research for mental health treatment trials at the University of Exeter, including the Research for Patient Benefit Funding for the RESPOND trial discussed in this article. He co-directs an NHS commissioned psychological therapies service, which delivers Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. Clara Strauss is co-lead for Sussex Mindfulness Centre (SMC), part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and has received funding to conduct MBCT research from NIHR and other funders, funding to deliver MBCT courses and funding to train MBCT therapists within SMC.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New study sheds light on pain and depression
Depression and loneliness are more profound in people with chronic pain years before their pain starts, according to a new study. Researchers said that chronic pain is a 'major public health concern' as it affects up to 40% of people in the UK and Europe and is a leading cause of disability. It has been linked to problems including depression and loneliness, but academics wanted to understand more about the connection, particularly in the period before pain starts. A team from University College London (UCL) examined 21 years of data from a long-term study tracking the health and wellbeing of patients. In the new study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, experts examined data on more than 7,300 adults in England aged 50 and older. Half of these went on to suffer pain, including aches and pains of the back, knee, hip or foot, while the others did not. Researchers found that middle-aged and older adults who experience pain are more likely to have had worsening symptoms of depression up to eight years before the onset of pain. These symptoms got worse in the years leading up to pain, appeared to peak when the pain was first noticed and remained high in the years after the pain started. Symptoms of depression were less common, less severe and relatively constant among people who did not suffer pain. Struggling with feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress or obsessions and compulsions? NHS Talking Therapies can help. The service is effective, confidential and free. Your GP can refer you or refer yourself at — NSFT mental health (@NSFTtweets) May 13, 2025 They also found that loneliness increased both in the years before and years after the onset of pain but stayed low and relatively constant among the group who did not suffer pain. As a result, the researchers suggested that treatment for depression might help to prevent or reduce later aches and pains. Lead author Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, from UCL's research department of epidemiology and public health, said: 'Pain and depression are known to be linked, with each exacerbating the other. But we don't know about the timing of these related conditions. 'Our study shows that depressive symptoms and loneliness worsen long before pain begins. 'This is important as it suggests the potential for early mental health and social support to reduce or delay later pain. 'Factors such as depression and loneliness can contribute to pain through several mechanisms – by inducing stress, they may increase inflammation, which can lead to pain; they also may increase sensitivity to pain by changing immune responses and by dysregulating our autonomic nervous system, the network of nerves that control unconscious processes such as the 'flight or fight' response. 'Our findings highlight the importance of approaching pain not just from a biological perspective, mental health interventions may be important too.' The team found that depressive symptoms were most pronounced in people with lower levels of education and among less wealthy patients. 'This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of targeting loneliness and mental health in older people,' the authors wrote. 'Proactive mental health and social support is needed in the decade preceding onset of pain and should be integrated into long-term pain management strategies, particularly for individuals with fewer socioeconomic resources.'
Daily Record
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
New DWP plans to help people with long Covid find and stay in a job
The Labour Government aims to help more people with long-term health conditions into work to achieve its 80% employment target. Reasons your Universal Credit may be cut by DWP Minister for Employment Alison McGovern has shared details on new plans to help long-term health conditions including long Covid back into work. The UK Government's 'Get Britain Working White Paper', published in November last year, sets out the biggest reforms by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to employment support for a generation and achieve an 80 per cent employment rate. In a written response to Labour MP Jonathan Davies, the Employment Minister explained how DWP's 'ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work'. She added that the UK Government is 'committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with long covid' and have a 'range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work' The DWP Minister's comments came after the mid-Derbyshire MP asked what steps are being taken to help people with long covid into work. Ms McGovern said: 'Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. 'Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. 'The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with long covid, and have a range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.' Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. The DWP Minister added: 'The Government also announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1billion of new funding.' However, she added that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. She explained: 'The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. 'To build on this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate is facilitating 'Keep Britain Working', an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.' Online consultation The DWP has published the 'Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working' consultation online at The consultation is seeking views on the approaches the UK Government should consider around reform of the health and disability benefits system and employment support. The consultation on states: 'This Green Paper is an important staging post on a journey of reform, building on the vision and approach set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper in November 2024. It sets out our vision, strategy and proposals for change.' It continues: 'We want to improve and refine our plans by consulting on certain measures as described within this paper. We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do.' Who can complete the consultation? The DWP is encouraging a 'wide group' of people to share their views 'in particular disabled people and people with health conditions and disability organisations'. This consultation applies to England, Wales and Scotland. All the proposals apply in England, but it's important to be aware that the proposals will only apply to the UK Government's areas of responsibility in England, Wales and Scotland. DWP will also be running a number of 'accessible virtual and face to face events' on the consultation. More information on the details of these events and on how to register can be found on here. To complete the consultation, scroll to the bottom of the page here where it says 'Ways to respond'. The consultation will close on June 30, 2025. Summary of proposed benefits changes Universal Credit The latest statistics show there were 7.57 million people on Universal Credit, a means-tested incapacity benefit, in Great Britain as of February. It is aimed at helping people on a low income or those who are out of work. The UKGovernment said it will introduce an above-inflation rise to the standard Universal Credit allowance by 2029/30 - adding £775 in cash terms annually. But the health element allowance will be almost halved for new claimants from April next year while those already claiming will have their amount frozen until 2029/2030. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is to be scrapped in 2028, having been described by Liz Kendall as 'complex, time consuming and often stressful for claimants'. The UK Government said it will legislate for a so-called 'right to try', which will allow people to try work without the fear their benefits will automatically be put at risk. The Government said it will consult on delaying access to the Universal Credit health element until someone is aged 22. The latest figures showed there were 109,436 people aged 16 to 21 on Universal Credit health in December 2024. PIP Nearly 3.7 million claimants in England and Wales were entitled to PIP as of the end of January, the latest figures showed - up 71 per cent on the equivalent figure five years earlier when it stood at 2.14 million. The payment is aimed at helping with some of the extra costs caused by long-term disability and ill health and is not dependent on whether someone is working or not. Some people will lose their PIP entitlement, the UK Government said, as the process to qualify is tightened in an effort to focus the disability benefit on 'those with higher needs'. The UK Government said it will bring in a new eligibility requirement for a minimum score of at least four points regarding how much help the person needs with everyday tasks on the daily living element of the benefit. No change is being proposed for the mobility element, which looks at how much help someone needs in getting around. The UK Government confirmed the change 'means that people who only score the lowest points on each of the PIP daily living activities will lose their entitlement in future'. The UK Government also committed to not putting Universal Credit claimants who have the most severe disabilities and health conditions that will never improve through the ordeal of being reassessed for benefits 'to give them the confidence and dignity they deserve'. However the UK Government said it plans to increase the number of face-to-face assessments in PIP and under the current Work Capability Assessment in a bid to 'give confidence to claimants and taxpayers that they're being done properly'. The UK Government said it will also consult on raising the age at which people can claim PIP from 16 to 18.
Leader Live
15-05-2025
- Health
- Leader Live
Mindfulness may combat ‘hard to treat' depression
Only half of people with depression feel well again after NHS Talking Therapies, academics said. But offering an additional course of mindful cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered through a weekly video call, could help reduce symptoms for people with difficult-to-treat depression, according to their new study. NHS talking Therapies, which has been dubbed one of the most ambitious treatment services of its kind in the world, offered treatment to 1.83 million people in 2023/24. Struggling with feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress or obsessions and compulsions? NHS Talking Therapies can help. The service is effective, confidential and free. Your GP can refer you or refer yourself at — NSFT mental health (@NSFTtweets) May 13, 2025 People whose symptoms do not respond to low-intensity treatment, or who present with more complex illnesses, are offered high-intensity treatment. But figures suggest that 50% of people with depression who complete high-intensity therapies still have lingering symptoms – also known as difficult-to-treat depression. Academics said there has been little research into treatment options when people with depression have not shown remission of symptoms during a previous psychological therapy, as they set out to examine whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could help. The eight-week treatment uses 'mindfulness practice as a means of helping patients become better at recognising and disengaging from habitual maladaptive patterns of thinking', they said. It works by using intensive training in mindfulness meditation to help people develop skills to respond better to negative mood and stress, in addition to cognitive behavioural therapy principles which seek to change negative thought patterns. The new study, led by an expert from the University of Surrey and published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, saw 234 patients who still had depression symptoms after NHS Talking Therapies split into two groups. One group received MCBT, delivered via video conferences, while the other group had treatment as usual. Around six in 10 of all the people involved in the study were taking antidepressants. Six months after treatment, patients who took part in the MCBT course had a larger reduction in symptoms compared to those who had treatment as usual. Researchers also said that MBCT was a cost-effective tool – costing around £100 per patient. The research team suggested that the tool could be considered as a treatment option for NHS patients with hard-to-treat depression. Professor Thorsten Barnhofer, co-author of the study and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Surrey, said: 'For the thousands of people who finish talking therapy but still find themselves living with depression, this study offers real hope. 'We found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy not only helps people feel better, but also does so in a way that could ease pressure on NHS services. 'These are results we can't afford to ignore – for individuals, for clinicians, and for a system stretched to its limits.' Study co-author Professor Barney Dunn, from the University of Exeter, added: 'We know there's a gap in services for people with depression who haven't got better through NHS Talking Therapies. 'These people often don't qualify for further specialist mental health care, and so are left with no further options. 'We've shown that offering MBCT to this group can be effective and cost-efficient to deliver, and we hope this will lead to it being implemented widely. 'We need investment in this and other areas where there are gaps in service, to ultimately save the NHS money.' Study co-author Barbara Barrett, professor of health economics at King's College London, said: 'We are highly encouraged by our findings, which reveal that MBCT treatment offers a powerful dual benefit for this group: superior patient outcomes coupled with notable cost savings for the NHS.'
Rhyl Journal
15-05-2025
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
Mindfulness may combat ‘hard to treat' depression
Only half of people with depression feel well again after NHS Talking Therapies, academics said. But offering an additional course of mindful cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered through a weekly video call, could help reduce symptoms for people with difficult-to-treat depression, according to their new study. NHS talking Therapies, which has been dubbed one of the most ambitious treatment services of its kind in the world, offered treatment to 1.83 million people in 2023/24. Struggling with feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress or obsessions and compulsions? NHS Talking Therapies can help. The service is effective, confidential and free. Your GP can refer you or refer yourself at — NSFT mental health (@NSFTtweets) May 13, 2025 People whose symptoms do not respond to low-intensity treatment, or who present with more complex illnesses, are offered high-intensity treatment. But figures suggest that 50% of people with depression who complete high-intensity therapies still have lingering symptoms – also known as difficult-to-treat depression. Academics said there has been little research into treatment options when people with depression have not shown remission of symptoms during a previous psychological therapy, as they set out to examine whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could help. The eight-week treatment uses 'mindfulness practice as a means of helping patients become better at recognising and disengaging from habitual maladaptive patterns of thinking', they said. It works by using intensive training in mindfulness meditation to help people develop skills to respond better to negative mood and stress, in addition to cognitive behavioural therapy principles which seek to change negative thought patterns. The new study, led by an expert from the University of Surrey and published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, saw 234 patients who still had depression symptoms after NHS Talking Therapies split into two groups. One group received MCBT, delivered via video conferences, while the other group had treatment as usual. Around six in 10 of all the people involved in the study were taking antidepressants. Six months after treatment, patients who took part in the MCBT course had a larger reduction in symptoms compared to those who had treatment as usual. Researchers also said that MBCT was a cost-effective tool – costing around £100 per patient. The research team suggested that the tool could be considered as a treatment option for NHS patients with hard-to-treat depression. Professor Thorsten Barnhofer, co-author of the study and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Surrey, said: 'For the thousands of people who finish talking therapy but still find themselves living with depression, this study offers real hope. 'We found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy not only helps people feel better, but also does so in a way that could ease pressure on NHS services. 'These are results we can't afford to ignore – for individuals, for clinicians, and for a system stretched to its limits.' Study co-author Professor Barney Dunn, from the University of Exeter, added: 'We know there's a gap in services for people with depression who haven't got better through NHS Talking Therapies. 'These people often don't qualify for further specialist mental health care, and so are left with no further options. 'We've shown that offering MBCT to this group can be effective and cost-efficient to deliver, and we hope this will lead to it being implemented widely. 'We need investment in this and other areas where there are gaps in service, to ultimately save the NHS money.' Study co-author Barbara Barrett, professor of health economics at King's College London, said: 'We are highly encouraged by our findings, which reveal that MBCT treatment offers a powerful dual benefit for this group: superior patient outcomes coupled with notable cost savings for the NHS.'
