Every year almost 6% of the adult population of Australia experiences an episode of depression.6,7 Depressive disorders are the single largest burden of non – fatal disease in Australia and that accounts for approximately 8% of the reported disability.8 Further, other depressive symptoms that do not fall within a diagnosis of a depressive disorder are also reported to be very common in the Australian community and may also be an additional important contributor to disability.9

Many Australians state a preference for self help and complementary therapies for depression.10,11 In a recent national survey 57% of the respondents regarded vitamins, minerals, tonics or herbal preparations as likely to be beneficial in treating depression, compared with 29% who regarded antidepressants as likely to be helpful.10 Community groups have also been found to use self help interventions more commonly that professional treatments when they have anxiety and depressive symptoms. In a further survey the most commonly used self help interventions over a 6 month period consisted of consuming alcohol for relaxation (55% of the respondents), the use of pain medication (50%), or participating in physical activity exercises (50%) compared with 35% who consulted a general practitioner, 20% who took antidepressant medication and 4% who received psychotherapy.11

Yoga is often used for relief of stress and anxiety. Recently, two randomised controlled trials have been carried out on the use of yogic breathing exercises in depression.4,5 One compared yogic breathing with no treatment in students who had a high level of depressive symptoms. After training the students were instructed to practice for 30 minutes each morning for 30 days. The treatment group was found to improve significantly more than the control group.4 The other study investigated hospitalised patients with melancholic depression that were then randomly assigned to receive training in yogic breathing, electroconvulsive therapy or imipramine. All groups were found to improve.5 Additional clinical studies have indicated that yoga may be extremely useful as an effective treatment for anxiety and depressive disorders.12,13

Although there is limited research information available, yogic breathing shows much promise as an effective alternative treatment modality in anxiety and depressive disorders.

References Nemeroff CB (ed). Psychoneuroimmunology. The Psychiatric Clinics of Nth Amer 1998, 21 Young E et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology of depression: hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. In: Nemeroff CB (ed) Psychoneuroendocrinology The Psychiatric Clin of Nth Amer 1998. 21, 309-324 Plotsky PM et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology of depression: hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. In: Nemeroff CB (ed) Psychoneuroendocrinology The Psychiatric Clin of Nth Amer 1998. 21, 293-308 Khumar SS, Kaur P, Kaur S. Effectiveness of shavasana on depression among university students. Indian J Clin Psychol 1993; 20: 82-87. Janakiramaiah N, Gangadhar BN, Naga Venkatesha Murthy PJ, et al. Antidepressant efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in melancholia: a randomized comparison with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and imipramine. J Affect Disord 2000; 57: 255-257. Andrews G, Henderson S, Hall W. Prevalence, comorbidity, disability and service utilisation. Overview of the Australian National Mental Health Survey. Br J Psychiatry. 2001; 178:145-53 Andrews G, Hall W, Teesson M, Henderson S. The mental health of Australians. Canberra: Mental Health Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 1999. Mathers C, Vos T, Stevenson C. The burden of disease and injury in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Canberra: AIHW, 1999. Refer: [http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/health/bdia.html]. Judd LL, Akiskal HS, Paulus MP. The role and clinical significance of subsyndromal depressive symptoms (SSD) in unipolar major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord 1997; 45: 5-18. Jorm AF, Korten AE, Jacomb PA, et al. “Mental health literacy”: a survey of the public’s ability to recognise mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment. Med J Aust 1997; 166: 182-186. Jorm AF, Medway J, Christensen H, et al. Public beliefs about the helpfulness of interventions for depression: effects on actions taken when experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2000; 34: 619-626. Berger BG, Owen DR. Mood alteration with yoga and swimming: aerobic exercise may not be necessary. Percept Mot Skills. 1992;75(3 Pt 2):1331-43. Ray US, Mukhopadhyaya S, Purkayastha SS, et al. Effect of yogic exercises on physical and mental health of young fellowship course trainees. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2001;45(1):37-53.

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