Tai Chi may help counter depression
A new study has found that practising Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and may be useful especially for people who tend to avoid conventional psychiatric treatments.
A 12-week program of instruction and practice of the Chinese martial art Tai Chi led to significantly reduced symptoms of depression in Chinese Americans not receiving any other treatments.
The pilot study conducted by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry enrolled members of Boston’s Chinese community who had mild to moderate depression.
Yeung, an associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said, ‘If these findings are confirmed in larger studies at other sites, that would indicate that tai chi could be a primary depression treatment for Chinese and Chinese American patients, who rarely take advantage of mental health services, and may also help address the shortage of mental health practitioners.’
‘We also should investigate whether tai chi can have similar results for individuals from other racial and ethnic groups and determine which of the many components of tai chi might be responsible for these beneficial effects,’ Yeung further added.
