Depression is spreading at an alarming rate and in United Kingdom alone the government spends 7.5 billion pounds every year on this ailment. Studies have shown that meditation therapy has a more lasting effect on depression which keeps recurring, compared to taking antidepressants. But even though the NHS has given the guidelines for meditation therapy, only 5% of GPs are prescribing it to their patients.

The meditation therapy which is recommended by the NHS is based on Buddhist meditation of Mindfulness. In this the person is taught to focus his attention on either breathing, or parts of the body or even on movements. This brings the mind into focus and it does not dwell on worries and regrets. The therapy is now called MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) and multiple studies conducted on Buddhist Monks has shown that during the meditation the brainwaves undergo a change, and showed increases activity in the pre-frontal cortex, which is to do with positive emotions. Studies also point out that people who have meditated on a regular basis for a few years, have bigger areas in their brains which control emotions.

Depression is known to affect people in bouts and it is recurring nature that causes the most problem. Meditation therapy has shown that this recurrence can stop altogether, which does not happen with antidepressants.