In exploring your depression treatment options you will undoubtedly find that talk therapy and/or medication are the treatments most prescribed for decreasing your depression. But are there other treatments which can help or at least “complement” traditional depression therapies? The answer is yes. We are going to be looking outside the box to present some alternative or complementary depression treatments which have been validated by scientific studies for their effectiveness in alleviating some of the symptoms of depression. We began this series by looking at the benefits of treating depression with laughter. In this post we are going to look at another alternative therapy for depression, therapeutic massage.
Most people who get a massage report feelings of physical relaxation. Many people use massage as a way to soothe tired and overworked muscles. Others get a massage because it simply feels good. Massage is used by some athletes to help prevent or recover from sports injuries. It is also used to treat the symptoms of chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or Multiple Sclerosis. In fact, massage therapy may be one of the oldest healing techniques used by people across the world. There is much evidence that massage can benefit our physical body but what about our mood and emotions? There is evidence to show that massage is not only good for our physical well being but also for our mental health.
Research on the Benefits of Massage Therapy to Treat Depression
The following are some of the research findings on how massage can decrease the symptoms of mood disorders and related mental health issues.
• In one news story we reported to you how massage may promote healing in grieving relatives. According to a Swedish study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, a once a week 25-minute hand or foot massage helped those who had lost a loved one to cope with their grief.
• A recent report published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reviewed the medical literature to find out if massage therapy was an effective treatment for depression. Dr. Wen-Hsuan Hou of I-Shou University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and colleagues cited 17 studies which led the researchers to conclude that massage therapy had "potentially significant effects" in alleviating symptoms of depression.
• A study published in Adolescence examined the benefits of music and massage therapies in treating depression in teens. The researchers concluded that both types of therapy have positive effects on brain activity in depressed teenagers. They recommend that music and massage therapy be reviewed more closely, for inclusion in traditional depression treatment programs for teens.
These are just several of the many scientific studies which show that massage can have a positive effect on our mental health and decrease some of the symptoms associated with depression and other related mental health disorders. For example, Dr. Marlene Freeman (Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women’s Mental Health) writes about the research done with regard to using massage to treat the symptoms of depression related to pregnancy.
