A type of mindfulness-based therapy may offer an alternative to people with long-term depression who no longer want to take antidepressants, scientists have claimed.

Mindfulness aims to show people how to pay attention in a specific way, focusing on the present moment and what is happening around them, rather than things in the past or things coming up in the future.

Scientists in the UK set out to assess the potential benefits of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which they describe as ‘structured training for the mind and body which aims to change the way people think and feel about their experiences'.

The study wanted to assess whether MBCT was better than antidepressant treatment when it came to relapses of depression.

The scientists noted that depression is a ‘recurrent disorder' and without ongoing treatment, up to 80% of people with the condition will relapse at some point.

"Currently, maintenance antidepressant medication is the key treatment for preventing relapse, reducing the likelihood of relapse or recurrence by up to two-thirds when taken correctly. However, there are many people who, for a number of different reasons, are unable to keep on a course of medication for depression. Moreover, many people do not wish to remain on medication for indefinite periods, or cannot tolerate its side-effects," explained the study's co-author, Prof Richard Byng, of Plymouth University.

MBCT was specifically developed in order to help people with recurrent depression. It works by teaching them the skills to recognise and respond to the feelings and thoughts that are linked to a relapse.

As part of the study, 424 adults with recurrent depression who were being treated on an ongoing basis with antidepressants were randomly selected to either slowly come off the drugs and receive MBCT, or to stay on their medication.

The MBCT attended eight group sessions, which each lasted two-and-a-quarter hours. They were also given work to do at home. After the eight sessions were over, they had the option of attending four follow-up sessions over a one-year period.

Altogether, the study took two years and during this time, the participants were assessed regularly.

The study found that after two years, the relapse rates were remarkably similar for both groups - 44% in the MBCT group and 47% in the antidepressant group.

Therefore, while MBCT did not offer any extra protection against recurrent depression, the study shows it offers similar protection to antidepressant treatment.

"Whilst this study doesn't show that MBCT works any better than maintenance antidepressant medication in reducing the rate of relapse in depression, we believe these results suggest a new choice for the millions of people with recurrent depression on repeat prescriptions," commented the study's lead author, Prof Willem Kuyken, of Oxford University.

The scientists added that there was ‘no significant difference between the two treatments' when it came to costs.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, The Lancet.

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