“[Having depression] feels like I’m floating, drifting, lost, without purpose. It feels like nothing, an emotional black hole. Like I’m no longer human. The world is dull and colourless.” tells Allison in her blog. Allison used mediation to conquer her freedom from depression. Allison’s blog inspired many others to get out of the depression tunnel. [1]
She is one of the three hundred million people in the world who start their daily routine by dealing with depressive feelings. The world health organization ranked depression as the single largest contributor to global disability. [2] It is estimated that more than six million people in Germany suffer from depression. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic made the global situation even worst [3].
Now the question is not trivial: is it possible to recover from depression by using meditation?
Headspace, a global leader in mindfulness and meditation products, says “yes” and invests in the German market, launching for the first time in 2019 a German version of its products. This is the first non-English meditation product for Headspace. With its portfolio of meditation apps and online offerings, Headspace has already reached more than 42 million users in 190 countries. Through its Headspace for Work offering, the company is also active in the business-to-business sector, focusing its products on companies and their employees as social benefits. Headspace also maintains relationships with many of the world’s most recognized brands, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Nike, the NBA and others.
What could persuade such a big company to launch a non-English meditation product?
Germany is not immune to depression. The prevalence of depression increased from 12.5% in 2009 to 15.7% in 2017 (+26%). Overall, women were twice as likely as men to receive a diagnosis, although the prevalence increased more strongly in men compared to women (+40% vs. +20%) [4].
Meditation is also useful to reduce stress and anxiety and meditation products and apps are required by several groups of people in Germany as well as all over the world, not necessarily by depressed people.
According to Ethnologue, the German language is the 11th language spoken as the first language by size: it is spoken in 43 countries by 90.3 million people. There are more than 90 million native speakers of German in Europe, making it the most widely spoken language. This will help to share meditation and mindfulness content with people who need it.
What is depression?
Depression is a serious mental health condition that can have devastating effects on an individual’s life. It can lead to problems with work, relationships, and self-esteem [5]. Depression is a mental disorder characterized by persistent low mood and loss of interest or pleasure in activities. People with depression often have difficulty performing everyday activities and may feel that life is not worth living [6].
There are different types of depression, and it can occur at any age [7,8,9]. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting millions of people around the world. While it is treatable, many people do not seek treatment due to the stigma associated with mental illness [10].
What is meditation?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, mindfulness meditation is the very intentional awareness of the present moment in a non-judgmental fashion. It’s not as easy as it sounds.
There are several types of meditation. A recent study found that meditation can help to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms and improve quality of life. The study found that participants who meditated for eight weeks had significantly lower levels of depression than those who did not meditate [11].
Many people are exploring an alternative approach to depression treatment: mindfulness-based meditation [12].
So, what is happening in your brain when you meditate?
Meditation has been found to change certain brain regions that are specifically linked to depression. For example, scientists have shown that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) becomes hyperactive in depressed people. The mPFC is often called the “me centre” because this is where you process information about yourself, such as worrying about the future and ruminating about the past. When people get stressed about life, the mPFC goes into overdrive [13, 14,15]
Mindfulness meditation may lead to increases in grey matter density in the hippocampus and other frontal regions of the brain as well as increases in the anterior insula and cortical thickness, say some clinical trials [16].
Stress and anxiety are major triggers of depression, and meditation can alter your reaction to those feelings. Even if the meditation’s benefits are proven, many people have problems practising meditation. The solution proposed by Allison in her blog is sometimes unfeasible.
The use of apps or meditation tools like the ones launched by Headspace can be a valid aid for those people.
REFERENCES
[1] https://alisonheilig.com/i-am-more-than-this-my-story-of-meditation-mental-illness/
[2] Stringaris A. Editorial: What is depression? J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2017 Dec;58(12):1287-1289. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12844. PMID: 29148049.
[3] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02143-7/fulltext#seccestitle150
[4] Steffen A, Thom J, Jacobi F, Holstiege J, Bätzing J. Trends in prevalence of depression in Germany between 2009 and 2017 based on nationwide ambulatory claims data. J Affect Disord. 2020 Jun 15;271:239-247. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.082. Epub 2020 Apr 18. PMID: 32479322.
[5] Dodd S, Bauer M, Carvalho AF, Eyre H, Fava M, Kasper S, Kennedy SH, Khoo JP, Lopez Jaramillo C, Malhi GS, McIntyre RS, Mitchell PB, Castro AMP, Ratheesh A, Severus E, Suppes T, Trivedi MH, Thase ME, Yatham LN, Young AH, Berk M. A clinical approach to treatment resistance in depressed patients: What to do when the usual treatments don’t work well enough? World J Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Sep;22(7):483-494. doi: 10.1080/15622975.2020.1851052. Epub 2020 Dec 8. PMID: 33289425.
[6] Malhi GS, Mann JJ. Depression. Lancet. 2018 Nov 24;392(10161):2299-2312. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31948-2. Epub 2018 Nov 2. PMID: 30396512.
[7] Ukatu N, Clare CA, Brulja M. Postpartum Depression Screening Tools: A Review. Psychosomatics. 2018 May-Jun;59(3):211-219. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2017.11.005. Epub 2017 Nov 23. PMID: 29396166.
[8] Annunziata MA, Muzzatti B, Bidoli E, Flaiban C, Bomben F, Piccinin M, Gipponi KM, Mariutti G, Busato S, Mella S. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) accuracy in cancer patients. Support Care Cancer. 2020 Aug;28(8):3921-3926. doi: 10.1007/s00520-019-05244-8. Epub 2019 Dec 19. PMID: 31858249.
[9] Choi Y, Choi SH, Yun JY, Lim JA, Kwon Y, Lee HY, Jang JH. The relationship between levels of self-esteem and the development of depression in young adults with mild depressive symptoms. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Oct;98(42):e17518. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017518. PMID: 31626112; PMCID: PMC6824750.
[10] Huggett C, Birtel MD, Awenat YF, Fleming P, Wilkes S, Williams S, Haddock G. A qualitative study: experiences of stigma by people with mental health problems. Psychol Psychother. 2018 Sep;91(3):380-397. doi: 10.1111/papt.12167. Epub 2018 Jan 18. PMID: 29345416.
[11] Desai K, Gupta P, Parikh P, Desai A. Impact of Virtual Heartfulness Meditation Program on Stress, Quality of Sleep, and Psychological Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 22;18(21):11114. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111114. PMID: 34769634; PMCID: PMC8583339.
[12] Smith BW, Shelley BM, Dalen J, Wiggins K, Tooley E, Bernard J. A pilot study comparing the effects of mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral stress reduction. J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Apr;14(3):251-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.0641. PMID: 18370583.
[13] Kral TRA, Lapate RC, Imhoff-Smith T, Patsenko E, Grupe DW, Goldman R, Rosenkranz MA, Davidson RJ. Long-term Meditation Training Is Associated with Enhanced Subjective Attention and Stronger Posterior Cingulate-Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Resting Connectivity. J Cogn Neurosci. 2022 Aug 1;34(9):1576-1589. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01881. PMID: 35704552; PMCID: PMC9357181.
[14] Kral TRA, Imhoff-Smith T, Dean DC, Grupe D, Adluru N, Patsenko E, Mumford JA, Goldman R, Rosenkranz MA, Davidson RJ. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction-related changes in posterior cingulate resting brain connectivity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2019 Jul 31;14(7):777-787. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsz050. PMID: 31269203; PMCID: PMC6778831.
[15] Creswell JD, Taren AA, Lindsay EK, Greco CM, Gianaros PJ, Fairgrieve A, Marsland AL, Brown KW, Way BM, Rosen RK, Ferris JL. Alterations in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Link Mindfulness Meditation With Reduced Interleukin-6: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Biol Psychiatry. 2016 Jul 1;80(1):53-61. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.01.008. Epub 2016 Jan 29. PMID: 27021514.
[16] Kurth F, Zsadanyi SE, Luders E. Reduced age-related gray matter loss in the subgenual cingulate cortex in long-term meditators. Brain Imaging Behav. 2021 Dec;15(6):2824-2832. doi: 10.1007/s11682-021-00578-6. Epub 2021 Oct 23. PMID: 34686969.
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