Don't Forget Your Body: Mindfulness, Embodiment, and the Treatment of Depression

During the past decade, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) aiming at relapse prevention in depression has been developed and empirically tested. All exercises taught during MBCT are based on the development of a heightened awareness of one's body. The important role of the body is also stressed in a recently emerging interdisciplinary field of research termed ‘embodiment.’ This research program focuses on the interactions between bodily, cognitive, and emotional processes. Based on the obvious role of the body in MBCT and on the theoretical and empirical evidence highlighting the role of the body in emotional processes, we argue that considering embodied processes might be a useful perspective for research on the etiology of depression and for mechanisms of action in MBCT.

[1]  A. Glenberg,et al.  Symbol Grounding and Meaning: A Comparison of High-Dimensional and Embodied Theories of Meaning , 2000 .

[2]  J. Teasdale,et al.  Emotional processing, three modes of mind and the prevention of relapse in depression. , 1999, Behaviour research and therapy.

[3]  T. Heidenreich,et al.  Die erfassung von achtsamkeit als mehrdimensionales konstrukt: Die Deutsche version des Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS-D). , 2010 .

[4]  Gregory T. Smith,et al.  Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness , 2006, Assessment.

[5]  Gregory T. Smith,et al.  Assessment of Mindfulness by Self-Report , 2004, Assessment.

[6]  Susan M. Williams,et al.  Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. , 2000, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[7]  M. Beutel,et al.  Depersonalization, Mindfulness, and Childhood Trauma , 2007, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[8]  P. Panzarino,et al.  The costs of depression: direct and indirect; treatment versus nontreatment. , 1998, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[9]  J. Michalak,et al.  Rumination as a predictor of relapse in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression. , 2011, Psychology and psychotherapy.

[10]  Willem Kuyken,et al.  How does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy work? , 2010, Behaviour research and therapy.

[11]  A. Goldman,et al.  Is social cognition embodied? , 2009, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[12]  D. Hell,et al.  Muskelkraft und Gangcharakteristika depressiver Menschen , 1999, Der Nervenarzt.

[13]  A. Hayes,et al.  Clarifying the Construct of Mindfulness in the Context of Emotion Regulation and the Process of Change in Therapy , 2004 .

[14]  S. Chaiken,et al.  The Automatic Evaluation of Novel Stimuli , 2002, Psychological science.

[15]  J. Kabat-Zinn,et al.  An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: theoretical considerations and preliminary results. , 1982, General hospital psychiatry.

[16]  R. Ryan,et al.  The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  Nikolaus F. Troje,et al.  The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Depressive Gait Patterns , 2011 .

[18]  Z. Segal,et al.  Antidepressant monotherapy vs sequential pharmacotherapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or placebo, for relapse prophylaxis in recurrent depression. , 2010, Archives of general psychiatry.

[19]  A. Damasio.  Descartes' error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. avon books , 1994 .

[20]  J. Kabat-Zinn,et al.  Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future , 2003 .

[21]  G. Keitner,et al.  Combined Psychotherapy and Pharmacotherapy for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder , 2004 .

[22]  Gilles Bertschy,et al.  Depression relapse prophylaxis with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Replication and extension in the Swiss health care system , 2010, Journal of affective disorders.

[23]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Action recognition in the premotor cortex. , 1996, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[24]  L Sloman,et al.  Gait patterns of depressed patients and normal subjects. , 1982, The American journal of psychiatry.

[25]  Z. Segal,et al.  Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse , 2001 .

[26]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema.  Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[27]  K. Malone,et al.  Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for residual depressive symptoms. , 2007, Psychology and psychotherapy.

[28]  K. Delucchi,et al.  Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Pilot Study , 2008, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

[29]  Jeffrey M. Hausdorff,et al.  Effects of Pharmacological Therapy on Gait and Cognitive Function in Depressed Patients , 2007, Clinical neuropharmacology.

[30]  M. Washburn,et al.  Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear, and Rage. , 1917 .

[31]  J. McQuaid,et al.  The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Cognitive Processes and Affect in Patients with Past Depression , 2004, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[32]  Margaret Wilson,et al.  Six views of embodied cognition , 2002, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[33]  C. van Heeringen,et al.  The effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on recurrence of depressive episodes, mental health and quality of life: A randomized controlled study. , 2010, Behaviour research and therapy.

[34]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[35]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  A unifying view of the basis of social cognition , 2004, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[36]  K. Neff,et al.  The Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Self-Compassion , 2003 .

[37]  M. Moulds,et al.  Rumination and Experiential Avoidance in Depression , 2006, Behaviour Change.

[38]  Ronald C Kessler,et al.  The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? , 2003, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[39]  Richard G. Moore,et al.  Metacognitive awareness and prevention of relapse in depression: empirical evidence. , 2002, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[40]  Maria Karekla,et al.  Measuring experiential avoidance: A preliminary test of a working model , 2004 .

[41]  Rolf Pfeifer,et al.  How the body shapes the way we think - a new view on intelligence , 2006 .

[42]  T. Kashdan,et al.  Experiential avoidance as a generalized psychological vulnerability: comparisons with coping and emotion regulation strategies. , 2006, Behaviour research and therapy.

[43]  T. Fuchs,et al.  The joy dance Specific effects of a single dance intervention on psychiatric patients with depression , 2007 .

[44]  G. Lakoff,et al.  Philosophy in the flesh : the embodied mind and its challenge to Western thought , 1999 .

[45]  Nice.  Depression: management of depression in primary and secondary care , 2005 .

[46]  Jan M. Burg,et al.  The Healthy Quality of Mindful Breathing: Associations With Rumination and Depression , 2011, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[47]  J. Riskind.  They stoop to conquer: Guiding and self-regulatory functions of physical posture after success and failure. , 1984 .

[48]  Willem Kuyken,et al.  Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to prevent relapse in recurrent depression. , 2008, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[49]  Z. Segal,et al.  Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition , 2004 .

[50]  J. Williams,et al.  Effects of Mindfulness on Meta-Awareness and Specificity of Describing Prodromal Symptoms in Suicidal Depression , 2010, Emotion.

[51]  N. Farb,et al.  Minding one's emotions: mindfulness training alters the neural expression of sadness. , 2010, Emotion.

[52]  Ray Jackendoff,et al.  Languages of the Mind: Essays on Mental Representation , 1992 .

[53]  J. Teasdale,et al.  Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: replication and exploration of differential relapse prevention effects. , 2004, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[54]  T. Fuchs,et al.  Embodiment and psychopathology: a phenomenological perspective , 2009, Current opinion in psychiatry.

[55]  L. Barsalou,et al.  Whither structured representation? , 1999, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[56]  T. Borkovec,et al.  The nature of worry in generalized anxiety disorder: a predominance of thought activity. , 1990, Behaviour research and therapy.

[57]  L. Clark,et al.  Reducing relapse and recurrence in unipolar depression: a comparative meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioral therapy's effects. , 2007, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[58]  W. James.  II.—WHAT IS AN EMOTION ? , 1884 .

[59]  G. Schwartz,et al.  A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation versus relaxation training: Effects on distress, positive states of mind, rumination, and distraction , 2007, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[60]  M. Cabanac.  What is emotion? , 2002, Behavioural Processes.

[61]  R. DeRubeis,et al.  Prevention of relapse following cognitive therapy vs medications in moderate to severe depression. , 2005, Archives of general psychiatry.

[62]  M. Lemke,et al.  Spatiotemporal gait patterns during over ground locomotion in major depression compared with healthy controls. , 2000, Journal of psychiatric research.

[63]  S. Hayes,et al.  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiential Approach to Behavior Change , 1999 .

[64]  N. Troje,et al.  Embodied effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. , 2010, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[65]  Z. Segal,et al.  Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. , 2000, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[66]  H. Kraemer,et al.  Mediators and moderators of treatment effects in randomized clinical trials. , 2002, Archives of general psychiatry.

[67]  L Sloman,et al.  Mood, Depressive Illness and Gait Patterns * , 1987, Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.

[68]  J. Riskind,et al.  Nonverbal Expressions and the Accessibility of Life Experience Memories: A Congruence Hypothesis , 1983 .

[69]  F. Strack,et al.  Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: a nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[70]  S. Hayes,et al.  Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. , 1996 .

[71]  N. Troje,et al.  Embodiment of Sadness and Depression—Gait Patterns Associated With Dysphoric Mood , 2009, Psychosomatic medicine.

[72]  G. Eaves,et al.  Preventing recurrent depression using cognitive therapy with and without a continuation phase: a randomized clinical trial. , 2001, Archives of general psychiatry.

[73]  G. Fava,et al.  Prevention of recurrent depression with cognitive behavioral therapy: preliminary findings. , 1998, Archives of general psychiatry.

[74]  E. Rosch,et al.  The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience , 1993 .

[75]  L. Barsalou,et al.  Embodiment in Attitudes, Social Perception, and Emotion , 2005, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.