Researchers from the Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Washington conducted a meta-analysis on whether cognitive behavioral therapy is more efficacious than medication for depressive disorders vs. anxiety disorders.
 
The investigators selected randomized controlled studies comparing CBT and pharmacotherapy, with or without placebo, in adults with major depressive or anxiety disorders.

Researchers from Bright Path Yoga in Plano, Texas looked at the efficacy of an 8-week strategy of using yoga and meditation to help manage fibromyalgia symptoms, which typically consist of widespread pain, sleep disturbance, stiffness, fatigue, headache, and mood disorders.

The small pilot study looked at the impact of this program on 11 participants.
 
Results revealed significant improvement in the overall health status of the participants and in symptoms of stiffness, anxiety, and depression. Significant improvements were also seen in the reported number of days "felt good" and number of days "missed work" because of fibromyalgia.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden  investigated the efficacy of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) with therapist support for obsessive compulsive disorder. CBT is widely regarded as an effective treatment for OCD, but access to CBT therapists is limited – thus the internet-based program as an intermediate solution.
 
This pilot was an open trial where 23 patients received a 15-week ICBT program with therapist support, consisting of psycho-education, cognitive restructuring and exposure with response prevention.

Question:  

Help!  Hubby is 37 years old and has been a smoker for 20+ years.  He has also had depression for the last ten plus years, as well as sleep problems.  He was just diagnosed with PTSD this past week.  Where to start???

Gena

Researchers from the Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences at Chiba University in Japan investigated the impact of a 5-min stay in a hospital's rooftop forest on relaxation in elderly patients requiring care.

This was a within-subject, cross-sectional study where the participants were 30 elderly female patients requiring help in walking, with an average age of 81.

Responses were measured with a simplified emotional 7-point rating scale, ranging from -3 to +3 for 5 pairs of emotions. This instrument was derived from the two-question Whooley Depression Screen and was used as a subjective indicator.

Question:

Dear Belleruth,

I have listened to your guided imageries, Ease Grief, Relieve Stress, and Healing Trauma when I moved to a new and very different (and in many ways less good) place, was extremely lonely, and then had a rejection by someone I got involved with. The imageries helped me a lot – really a lot. Thank you!

I write to ask you about dealing with loneliness. In the new place I moved to, I finally have friends, so I am much less “friends-lonely”. However, I live in a world in which friends come and friends go:  They move away, get into relationships that consume a lot of their time, have babies, get sucked into work projects, etc. and they regularly evaporate. So I can still wind up quite “friends-lonely”.

Question:

Dear Belleruth,

Are guided imagery techniques less effective for people who are heavily medicated on pharmaceutical drugs, eg for bipolar or depression or PTS conditions? I suffer from combat stress and some family members have serious depression.

Thank you.

Elias P, Just Back from Iraq

Researchers from King's College and the Institute of Psychiatry performed a qualitative study to explore how practicing mindfulness related to living with and managing bipolar illness.

Qualitative methodology was used to explore the experiences of 12 people with bipolar illness who had been practicing mindfulness for at least 18 weeks. Semi-structured interviews exploring how the practice of mindfulness meditation affected their living with their condition were recorded verbatim, transcribed, and then analyzed using thematic analysis.
 
Seven themes emerged: (1) Focusing on what is present; (2) clearer awareness of mood state and changes therein; (3) acceptance; (4) mindfulness practice in different mood states; (5) reducing/stabilizing negative affect; (6) relating differently to negative thoughts; and (7) reducing the impact of the mood state.

In a randomized, controlled trial, investigators from a Eugene, Oregon company called mPower evaluated the efficacy of an interactive, computer-assisted cognitive-behavioral program called The Wellness Workshop for alleviating depression.
   
A total of 191 individuals referred by primary-care physicians were randomly assigned either to a treatment group, where treatment as usual was supplemented by the Wellness Workshop CD-ROM, delivered by mail (WW+TAU), or to a control group, where treatment as usual was provided (TAU).

Measures included symptom ratings obtained via structured clinical diagnostic interviews, as well as a battery of self-report questionnaires on symptoms specifically targeted by the intervention. Data were collected at baseline, at 6 weeks' post-intervention, and at a 6-month follow-up assessment. Participants were given a reimbursement of $75 for completion of each assessment.