When someone has clinical depression, it's important they see a doctor or a mental-health professional who can evaluate them properly and provide effective options for treatment. But there's also something known in the psychology¹ world as subthreshold depression-a condition in which people exhibit some symptoms of depression, but not enough for a clinical diagnosis².

当某人患有抑郁症时，看医生或者咨询心理健康专家是很重要的，他们能恰当评估患者的状况，为他们提供有效的治疗方法。但心理学也有一种叫做阈下抑郁的抑郁症--人们呈现出抑郁症的症状，但还不足以临床诊断是否患有抑郁症。

It's estimated that between 10% and 24% of the population has subthreshold depression (sometimes referred to as mild depression) at some point in their lives. And for those people, a new study suggests, practicing mindfulness meditation³ may help improve their mood and reduce their risk of developing depression. The study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, highlights yet another reason why meditation may be good for both physical and mental health.

据估计，10%至24%的人口都会在生命中的某个阶段患有阈下抑郁（有时候也叫做轻度抑郁症）。于这些人而言，一项新研究表明：练习正念冥想或有助于让他们的心情变好，降低他们患抑郁症的风险。研究发表在《家庭医学年报》期刊上，强调了冥想或有利于身心健康的另一个原因。

The study included 231 Chinese adults with subthreshold depression, meaning they scored between five and nine out of a total of 27 points on a standard depression scale. Half received mindfulness training two hours a week for eight weeks, while the other half received no special treatment but continued to receive their usual medical care.

研究对象是患有阈下抑郁的231位中国成年人，这就意味着如果标准抑郁症的症状为27分，那么这些人的得分情况则为5至9分。一半的人接受了正念训练，持续八周，每周训练两小时。而另一半没有接受特殊治疗，只是继续以往的医疗护理

During the mindfulness training, participants were instructed on setting short- and long-term goals; monitoring their activity and mood; planning out their activities; body scanning; and both sitting and walking meditations⁴. They were also provided a CD of audio recordings⁵ for guided meditations and were asked to practice at home at least six days a week.

正念训练阶段，受试者被指导设定短期和长期目标；检测身体活动和心情；计划自己的活动；扫描身体；坐着冥想和走着冥想。同时，这些受试者还拿到了一张指导他们冥想的录音光盘，被要求每周至少在家锻炼6天。

These techniques combine traditional meditation with behavioral activation⁶, a type of therapy that uses an "outside in" approach to help people change the way they act and aims to increase rewarding experiences in their lives. Behavioral activation has been shown to be an effective treatment for moderate to severe depression in other studies, and the researchers wanted to know if it would work as a preventive measure as well.

这些方法将传统冥想与行为激活结合在一起，这种治疗类型使用一种"由外而内"的方法，以帮助人们改变他们的行动方式，致力于增加他们生活中令人满足的经历。在其它研究中，行为激活已被证明是一种有效治疗中度至重度抑郁症的方法，研究员希望弄清楚这种治疗方法能否被用作预防措施。

At the end of those eight weeks, the group that received mindfulness training reported a significant decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms compared to the group that did not. And a year after the study began, only 11% of participants in the mindfulness group had developed clinical depression (also known as major depressive disorder), compared to 27% in the control group.

8周结束后，与没有接受正念训练的小组相比，接受正念训练的小组抑郁症和焦虑症症状明显降低。研究开始一年后，正念小组中只有11%的受试者患了抑郁症（也叫做重度抑郁症），而对照组有27%的受试者患了抑郁症。