In the UK about 140,000 15–19-year-olds experience depression, with an estimated 35,000 accessing treatment for depression, of which, about 14,000 do not respond and a further 8,000 experience depression again after initial successful treatment.
Teenagers who still have symptoms after treatment, or who relapse quickly, need more treatment options. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Therapy (MBCT) combines training in mindfulness meditation with principles from cognitive therapy. It teaches skills to recognise early warning signs of depression, avoid repetitive thinking patterns
that make depression more likely, and respond in ways that protect mental health. Although MBCT is recommended for adults who have experienced three or more depressive episodes, MBCT for teenagers is relatively untested.
We developed Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC) as a version of MBCT adapted to be more engaging for teenagers. MAC aims to help teenagers recover from depression and the parallel parent/carer group aims to support parents and carers to cope better.
