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Washington, Jul 31 (PTI) Suffering from depression? Here''s a simple way out -- be kind and compassionate, says a new study.
Depression affects over 100 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
Although antidepressants can be lifesaving for some individuals, initial drug therapy produces full benefits in only 30 per cent to 40 per cent of patients. Even after trying different drugs, one-third of people will remain depressed.
Now, researchers from the University of California and Duke University claim that practicing positive activities like acts of kindness can serve as an effective, low-cost treatment for people suffering from depression.
According to them, the new approach for treating depression -- Positive Activity Interventions (PAI) -- are intentional activities such as performing acts of kindness, and practicing optimism.
For their study, the researchers conducted a rigorous review of previous studies of PAIs, including randomised, controlled interventions with thousands of normal men and women as well as functional MRI scans in people with depressive symptoms.
"Over the last several decades, social psychology studies of flourishing individuals who are happy, optimistic and grateful have produced a lot of new information about the benefits of positive activity interventions on mood and well being," lead researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky said.
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