Can yoga and breathing really help 'cure' depression?

Conclusion Many people report finding yoga and breathing exercises to be relaxing and helpful for their mental health. This study provides some evidence the practice might help people with symptoms of depression. But flaws in the study mean we can't be sure this is the case. The lack of a control group is the big problem. For some people, depression simply gets better over time. For others, taking part in a class, being able to talk about their mental health, or getting out and doing some gentle physical exercise may improve their symptoms. We don't know whether yoga specifically made a difference because the study doesn't tell us this. Other problems include the study's relatively small size. Also, the cut-off point of 10 on the depression score seems to have been randomly chosen, rather than being of any clinical significance. The large number of people who dropped out of the study or lost touch with organisers before the study began (approximately 63) also points to the practical difficulty with the intervention. Attending two or three yoga classes a week, plus three or four home practice sessions, may be difficult for many people with moderate to severe depression to fit into their lives. And some people may have felt they were unable to cope with the experience of interacting with others in a group activity.   But it's encouraging that most people in the study saw big improvements in their mental health over the 12-week period. There are many treatments for depr...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Source Type: news