Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depressed IAPT Non-Responders

If not treated sufficiently, Major Depression tends to take a recurrent or chronic lifetime course that is associated with a significantly increased risk for physical and neurodegenerative disorders. In England, Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services provide evidence-based treatment for patients with common mental disorder with an access rate intended to rise to 25% of this population by 2021. However, about 50% of the depressed patients who come to the end of this pathway, have not responded sufficiently. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, a treatment combining training in mindfulness meditation and components from cognitive therapy, has previously been shown to be effective in treatment non-responders, but further evidence is needed to establish this finding more definitively and to see whether positive effects can be achieved within the stepped care approach of IAPT. In order to address these issues, this study will investigate whether MBCT can effectively reduce symptoms and lead to sustained recovery in patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder who have not sufficiently responded to high-intensity evidence-based therapy and have thus come to the end of the Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) care pathway. It will also test whether the introduction of this treatment can reduce subsequent service use. The investigators will randomly allocate 234 patients who have not sufficiently responded to IAPT high-intensity therapy to take part either in MBCT or to continue with TAU in a three-centre (London, Exeter, Sussex) RCT. Reductions in depression symptomatology will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, a standard measure of the severity of depression used in IAPT treatment monitoring, at 10-week (secondary outcome) and 34-week follow-up post-randomisation (primary outcome). Service-use information will be collected using the Adults Service Use Schedule. If successful, the current project would provide