Bangor's Mindfulness research gains national attention

Research at Bangor's Centre for Mindfullness Research & Practice, in conjunction with Oxford University, has received widespread media coverage recently.

The way we think and handle how we feel plays a big part in mental health, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has long been seen as integral to mental health services. New evidence also suggests that meditation, especially when associated with other mental disciplines derived from CBT, improves our mental and physical health, making it the subject of growing attention in recent years.

Research at Bangor over last 10 years has shown that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is proven to cut relapse rates in half for those who experience more than two episodes of depression. MBCT has been recommended for recurrent depression by NICE since 2004. Yet, six years on, just 1 in 5 GPs say they can access the treatment for their patients and only 1 in 20 prescribe MBCT regularly.

"I was delighted to be given an opportunity to highlight our research to me UK media at the Science Media Centre's Briefing and to see the coverage of our research," explained Rebecca Crane, Clinical Research Fellow at Bangor University's Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice.

"We've been researching the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapies for depression and for other applications for over 10 years. We also offer courses to enable people to learn techniques for themselves and training for professionals who want to deliver the course to others.

"We really hope that this approach can become routinely available to patients in NHS and other contexts," she added.

Dr Gareth Owens, a GP in Caernarfon, who uses mindfulness techniques himself, reiterates the call for MBCT to be more widely. He has recommended it to some of his patients, who have benefitted from practicing mindfulness. "It can be useful to some patients in some situations; however, it's very difficult to access. In conjunction with the University, we are about to run a small pilot project, providing mindfulness training at this surgery. As it has been approved by NICE since 2004 it really should be available through local NHS services," he says.

In addition to Rebecca Crane, speakers at the briefing included Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation, and Prof. Mark Williams, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director, Mindfulness Centre, University of Oxford, formerly professor at Bangor University.