Yoga: As Effective as Anti-Depressants?

This post is part of an ongoing public discussion relating to the scientific research of yoga and follows a two-part online webinar, Scientific Research on Depression and Yoga, which can be found on our events archive here. Comments are welcome in the comment field provided below this post. All comments are moderated for content and may or may not be published.

Studies show that yoga helps improve symptoms of depression, especially in long-term practitioners.

April 2020 seems so long ago, when I sat down with Yoga Alliance’s Director of Research and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School Dr. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa to talk about yoga and depression. He has compiled a selection of peer-reviewed publications of scientific research on the subject, and our conversation was called  “The Scientific Research on Yoga and Depression.”

Dr. Khalsa first delineated the difference between “sadness or depressed mood” and the disease called Major Depression Disorder (MDD). Just two weeks before, we had talked about yoga and anxiety, and it probably won’t surprise anyone that the science strikes similar tones in both areas of research: yoga is a palliative and even an intervention for both anxiety and depression, and in long term practitioners it has deeper and lasting effects.

As COVID continues to wreak both direct and indirect suffering across all aspects of life as we know it, one thing sticks out. Dr. Khalsa always points out that there is a strong proven association between stress and disease. With regard to depression, Dr. Khalsa said that studies show that stressors are 2.5 times more likely to be present. While acute major life events, such as divorce or the death of a loved one, or even Covid, can be precipitant, chronic stresses are stronger and acute ones as predictors of depression.

The GABA effect: yoga as comparable to medication

As with anxiety, the therapies for depression vary. Interestingly, Dr. Khalsa said that nearly 30% of the population is resistant to depression medication. Like many in mind-body research, he said he worries that antidepressants often don’t address the underlying causes of depression. Fortunately, there is evidence suggesting that “yoga’s efficacy seems to be comparable to that of antidepressant medication.” This is great news because, as Dr. Khalsa also outlines in each talk he gives, yoga not only has immediate positive benefits but long-term benefits as well.

One example of yoga’s immediate-and-potentially-lasting effects turns up in a study on Gamma Aminobutyric Acid, or GABA, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter with an immediate effect on depression. It is “tightly associated with depression,” Dr. Khalsa  said, functioning essentially as an antidepressant. This study showed that within the span of one yoga class, GABA was measured to increase and therefore improve the mood state of the yoga students.

The inescapable problem with depression and all mental illness, though, is that it’s a very complicated disease. “It involves many neurotransmitters,” Dr. Khalsa reminded us, and it takes a while to develop. It is essential, therefore, to understand that even yoga’s effects will time to settle in. The good news is that yoga can have an immediate effect, and the more you do it, the more effective it is. This is a bit of bright light during unsteady times.

Three citation highlights:

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