Mindfulness Programs Are not an Alternative to Antidepressants in the Avoidance of Depression Relapse.
The recent past has seen a considerable mushrooming of numerous studies championing the effectiveness of mindfulness programs in dealing with recurrent mental health issues. Varying studies have gone as far as claiming that these programs could offer an alternative to antidepressants and, in doing so, inadvertently implying that mindfulness programs could replace antidepressants in the fight against recurrent mental illnesses. The view adopted here is that mindfulness programs are neither more efficacious nor cost-effective than mainstream antidepressants because most have universal feature-treating situations as if they are all the same. Therefore, they cannot be advanced as a replacement for mainstream antidepressants in the prevention of relapse. Instead, for higher efficacy, a combination of both methods could suffice. The viewpoint is particularly relevant in cognitive psychology as it champions a collaborative treatment framework unique to individual situations in the war against possible relapse to depression. Four peer-reviewed pieces of literature have been chosen to support the viewpoint.