Published in:
Open Access
01-04-2017 | Short Communication
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depressed individuals improves suppression of irrelevant mental-sets
Authors:
Jonathan Greenberg, Benjamin G. Shapero, David Mischoulon, Sara W. Lazar
Published in:
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
|
Issue 3/2017
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Abstract
An impaired ability to suppress currently irrelevant mental-sets is a key cognitive deficit in depression. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was specifically designed to help depressed individuals avoid getting caught in such irrelevant mental-sets. In the current study, a group assigned to MBCT plus treatment-as-usual (n = 22) exhibited significantly lower depression scores and greater improvements in irrelevant mental-set suppression compared to a wait-list plus treatment-as-usual (n = 18) group. Improvements in mental-set-suppression were associated with improvements in depression scores. Results provide the first evidence that MBCT can improve suppression of irrelevant mental-sets and that such improvements are associated with depressive alleviation.