Depression | Chanwuyi Lifestyle Medicine Program

Research on Depression

Several studies were conducted to examine the effect of the Chanwuyi Lifestyle on mental health. In one study, forty adults were recruited and randomly assigned to receive CMLP or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for one month. After one month, both groups showed improved mood, but those with more severe depressive mood problems at the beginning showed significantly more improvement after learning CMLP than receiving CBT. Besides, only those who learned CMLP but not those who learned CBT showed some signs of improvement in physical health, including improvement in Bowel Functions. (Chan et al., 2011)

Next study (Chan et al., 2012, Han, 2020), we recruited 75 patients with clinical depression and randomly assigned them to receive the Chanwuyi Lifestyle Medicine Program (CLMP), Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or in waiting list. After ten weeks, both CLMP and CBT both showed improved depressive mood, but more patients in the CLMP group (35%) than the CBT group (13%) or control group (0%) reduced the intake of antidepressants. The CLMP group showed more improvement in some depression-related symptoms, including concentration difficulty, gastrointestinal problems (Chan et al., 2012).

References:

Chan, A. S., Cheung, M. C., Tsui, W. J., Sze, S. L. & Shi, D. (2011). Dejian mind-body intervention on depressive mood of community-dwelling adults: a randomized controlled trial. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, doi:10.1093/ecam/nep043.

Chan, A. S., Cheung, M. C., Sze, S. L., Leung, W. W. & Shi, D. (2011). Shaolin Dan Tian breathing fosters relaxed and attentive mind: A randomized controlled neuro-electrophysiological study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, doi:10.1155/2011/180704.

Chan, A., Wong, Q. Y., Sze, S. L., Kwong, P. P. K., Han, Y. M. Y., & Cheung, M. C. (2012). A Chinese Chan-based mind-body intervention improves sleep on patients with depression: a randomized controlled trial. The Scientific World Journal, doi:10.1100/2012/235206.

Chan, A. S., Wong, Q. Y., Sze S. L., Kwong, P. P. K., Han, Y. M. Y., & Cheung, M. C. (2012). A Chinese Chan-based mind-body intervention for patients with depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 142, 283-289.

Han, Y. M., Sze, S. L., Wong, Q. Y., & Chan, A. S. (2020). A mind-body lifestyle intervention enhances emotional control in patients with major depressive disorder: a randomized, controlled study. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 20(5), 1056-1069.