Jasmine Wing finds a calming place in Bethnal Green where you can have Buddhist-style therapy without following the Buddha.
‘We want people from the local community to be able to access things that will help them overcome their problems’ says Luke Doherty, Breathing Space manager and candidate member of the Triratna Buddhist order.
Breathing Space is a project based at the London Buddhist Centre offering meditation as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for East Londoners who have found that the drugs don’t work.
‘Breathing Space is the secular wing of the centre,’ Luke continued. ‘It is secularised so we can offer courses to people who are not interested in the religious aspects’.
Prescriptions for anti-depressants have risen by more than 40 per cent over the past four years, and this rise has been linked with money worries in the aftermath of the economic recession. Antidepressants are most frequently used by people living in deprived areas, especially women (10 per cent of women are currently prescribed these drugs; double the figure for men).
The Breathing Space project seeks to address the growing problem of depression by methods other than medication. It operates inside the calming London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green, offering a variety of therapy courses and group meditation sessions – an antidote to our daily hectic lifestyles.
The underlying aim is to stop it before it starts, using meditation to identify and control the triggers of depression – triggers which medication by definition cannot recognise.
Thought it comes from the other side of the world, Luke insists that ‘Buddhism can work in the West.’ However, he is equally insistent that the Buddhist technique of using meditation to ‘take control of your own feelings’, need not be restricted to followers of the Buddhist path.
People come to the London Buddhist Centre by various routes: some are self-referrals, others arrive via the centre’s contract with local authorities and GPs in East London.
Each year the centre provides free places for ‘mindfulness based cognitive behavioural therapy’ classes; also retreats and drop-in classes for local carers for ‘stress reduction’ courses, under contract to the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Hackney.
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is commonly offered to patients suffering with depression or anxiety. CBT is a form of talking therapy to help manage psychological problems by altering the way you think and, as a result, the way you behave to that thought.
Mindfulness meditation is a practice derived from Buddhism which encourages you to be mindful of your emotions, thoughts and sensations. In the Buddhist understanding this allows you to ‘know your mind, train your mind and feel your mind’.
The average age of the first onset of major depression is currently 25-29; and the estimated total cost of depression to the NHS is more than £15 billion a year.
Unlike many other religious establishments, the London Buddhist Centre is prepared to work with a clientele which does not share its beliefs. However, Luke Doherty believes that the combination of CBT and Buddhism is most effective since it creates ‘more sustainable change’. This amounts to a ‘different way of dealing with pain and suffering’, he concluded.
Jasmine Wing is Rising East‘s Health and Wellbeing Editor.