Feasibility of a Manualized Mindful Yoga Intervention for Patients With Chronic Mood Disorders

Chronic mood disorders pose an important mental health problem. Individuals with these disorders experience a significant impairment, often fail to seek help, and their illnesses frequently do not respond to treatment. It is therefore important to develop innovative and attractive treatments for these disorders. Mindful yoga represents a promising treatment approach. This pilot study tested the feasibility of a 9-week manualized mindful yoga intervention for patients with chronic mood disorders. Eleven patients receiving standard treatment were recruited to complete a 9-week mindful yoga intervention. Qualitative methods were used to assess patients' experiences of the intervention and quantitative methods were used to assess psychological distress and mechanisms that play a role in chronic mood disorders. Eight patients completed the intervention and rated the overall quality of the intervention with a mean score of 8.8 (range of 8 to 9, using a scale of 1 to 10). All participants reported a reduction in psychological distress and no adverse events. Among the mechanisms that play a role in chronic mood disorders, the most potentially promising effects from the intervention were found for worry, fear of depression and anxiety, rumination, and areas related to body awareness, such as trusting bodily experiences and not distracting from sensations of discomfort. A 9-week mindful yoga intervention appears to be a feasible and attractive treatment when added to treatment as usual for a group of patients with chronic mood disorders. A randomized controlled trial to study the effects of mindful yoga is recommended

Natural Medicines for Psychotic Disorders:A Systematic Review

Patients with psychotic disorders regularly use natural medicines, although it is unclear whether these are effective and safe. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of evidence for improved outcomes by natural medicines. A systematic literature search was performed through Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane until May 2015. In 110 randomized controlled trials, evidence was found for glycine, sarcosine, N-acetylcysteine, some Chinese and ayurvedic herbs, ginkgo biloba, estradiol, and vitamin B6 to improve psychotic symptoms when added to antipsychotics. Ginkgo biloba and vitamin B6 seemed to reduce tardive dyskinesia and akathisia. Results on other compounds were negative or inconclusive. All natural agents, except reserpine, were well tolerated. Most study samples were small, study periods were generally short, and most results need replication. However, there is some evidence for beneficial effects of certain natural medicines

Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction

Objectives This study was designed to test whether a brief mindful yoga intervention can prevent depression-related responses to dysphoric events. Methods One-hundred-75 undergraduate participants were assigned to one of four conditions in a single-session study. Three conditions received a dysphoric affect induction. Before the induction, participants completed a 20-minute intervention consisting of (a) mindful yoga, (b) stretching, or (c) relaxation control. The fourth condition consisted of a neutral affect induction to examine the validity of the dysphoric affect induction. We hypothesized that compared to relaxation control and stretching, mindful yoga participants would show less: (H1) state depressed affect; (H2) rumination; and (H3) attentional bias toward depression-related words. Results Validity checks indicated that the dysphoric affect induction led to greater state depressed affect and rumination, but not attentional bias. Compared to relaxation control, mindful yoga did not show less state depression, rumination, or attentional bias. The stretching group showed less depression and rumination. Conclusions The results do not provide support for mindful yoga in preventing depression-related reactivity. It may be that when given in a brief, one-time dose, stretching is the better choice for preventing negative outcomes from a subsequent dysphoric experience

Supplemental Material - Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction

Supplemental Material for Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction by Nina K. Vollbehr, H. J. Rogier Hoenders, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis, Peter J. de Jong and Brian D. Ostafin in Journal of Experimental Psychopathology</p

Supplemental Material - Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction

Supplemental Material for Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction by Nina K. Vollbehr, H. J. Rogier Hoenders, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis, Peter J. de Jong and Brian D. Ostafin in Journal of Experimental Psychopathology</p

Supplemental Material - Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction

Supplemental Material for Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction by Nina K. Vollbehr, H. J. Rogier Hoenders, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis, Peter J. de Jong and Brian D. Ostafin in Journal of Experimental Psychopathology</p

Supplemental Material - Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction

Supplemental Material for Brief mindful yoga intervention fails to prevent depression-related outcomes after a dysphoric affect induction by Nina K. Vollbehr, H. J. Rogier Hoenders, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis, Peter J. de Jong and Brian D. Ostafin in Journal of Experimental Psychopathology</p