Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Primary Care Patients

Overview

This study is done to evaluate the effects of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for primary care patients that have mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Half of the study participants will receive treatment as usual (TAU), and the other half will receive TAU plus MBCT. The investigators will be comparing changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety between the groups, and hypothesize that the TAU plus MBCT group will have significantly lower symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to TAU group post-intervention

Patients that show mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety are common in the primary care setting. These patients are often treated with antidepressant or anxiolytic medication instead of cognitive therapy, which is the first choice of treatment according to clinical guidelines in Iceland. Although these patients are often referred to cognitive therapy, there are long waiting lists for group therapy and personal therapy is expensive. MBCT has been shown to have good effects on people with recurrent depression and on patients suffering from anxiety. Therefore, the investigators main objective is to assess whether MBCT is effective in the primary care setting for patients with mild symptoms of anxiety and depression and compare its effect to TAU.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (2)

Outcomes