
- With Mayo Clinic psychiatrist
David Mrazek, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
David Mrazek, M.D.
David Mrazek, M.D.
Dr. David A. Mrazek is chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and a professor of psychiatry at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic. Dr. Mrazek has developed a federally funded psychiatric pharmacogenomics research program and implemented clinical psychiatric pharmacogenomics services at Mayo Clinic.
He has received numerous awards including the Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education from the American College of Psychiatrists and the Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Distinguished Career Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association. He currently serves as chairman of the board of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Mrazek has focused his current efforts on using pharmacogenomics testing to improve clinical care. One of his specific goals is to decrease the risks of taking psychiatric medications.
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Depression blog
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May 13, 2009
Using meditation for depression
By David Mrazek, M.D.
What is meditation?
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10 comments posted
July 27, 2011 1:17 p.m.
“Unnecessary risks are being taken by patients seeking the liberation treatment.” says Dr. Avneesh Gupte of the CCSVI Clinic. “It has been our contention since we started doing minimally invasive venous angioplasties nearly 6 years ago that discharging patients who have had neck vein surgery on an outpatient basis is contra-indicated. We have been keeping patients hospitalized for a week to 10 days as a matter of safety and monitoring them for symptoms. Nobody who has the liberation therapy gets discharged earlier than that. During that time we do daily Doppler Ultrasounds, blood work and blood pressure monitoring among other testing. This has been the safe practice standard that we have adopted and this post-procedure monitoring over 10 days is the subject of our recent study as it relates to CCSVI for MS patients.” Although the venous angioplasty therapy on neck veins has been done for MS patients at CCSVI Clinic only for the last 18 months it has been performed on narrow or occluded neck veins for other reasons for many years. “Where we encounter blocked neck veins resulting in a reflux of blood to the brain, we treat it as a disease,” says Gupte. “It’s not normal pathology and we have seen improved health outcomes for patients where we have relieved the condition with minimal occurrences of re-stenosis long-term. For more information Log on to http://ccsviclinic.ca/?p=866 OR Call on Toll Free: 888-419-6855.
- Robert
April 13, 2011 2:16 a.m.
you are right i think . i will try and then i will tell u results
- Meditation
March 23, 2011 11:59 a.m.
I have found that meditation is a great help to me because it allows me to really get into myself and relax. I suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD and during the warmer weather I have a few spots out in the woods on trails behind a local park that give me a chance to have complete peace and quiet, except for nature and really become relaxed and positive. I am hoping to throw out my medication soon and not go back to it.
- Doreen
July 12, 2010 11:49 p.m.
THANK YOU !
- ANCA
July 10, 2009 10:56 p.m.
Thanks so much for the article. I am a psychiatric nurse who uses meditation in the hospital with people who are severely depressed. Here is what I advise my patients: when we are being plagued by negative thoughts, trying to simply "breathe deep and clear your mind" is nearly impossible, and worse, may make you feel even more bad about yourself because you "failed meditation". Beginners should instead start out trying body relaxation meditation that is guided by an instructor. Free CDs & DVDs are available at the library and can be downloaded from the internet: just search for "guided body relaxation meditation" and you will get thousands of results. Some instructors will have voices or music that you don't like - that's ok, just try others. Also, you will rarely get through a whole meditation without your mind wandering - that's ok (people who don't have depression also regularly find that those pesky thoughts try to interrupt their relaxation time) - just let the instructor's voice bring you back into focus. Let meditation be that special 20 or 30 minutes each day that is just for you. It will not magically "cure" your depression, but it is a coping skill that most people who are willing to give it a try find to be a very helpful tool to manage their symptoms.
- Anne
July 9, 2009 8:57 p.m.
I suffered from severe depression and anxiety for years. Each medication I took seemed to work for a time and then stop working. I learned about passage meditation from an acquaintance and have been practicing now for seven years. I have been able to stop taking medication and have not had any episodes of depression or anxiety for these seven years. I remember how horrible those episodes were. I hope this information will be of help to someone.
- J in Georgia
June 9, 2009 6:09 p.m.
Here is a technique to separate oneself from the continual mind chatter. Imagine yourslf in a tree or other observation point. You are looking at yourself sitting near a stream. 'See' all the mental chatter floating down the stream. You are watching yourself watching the chatter float away. We may not be able to stop the chatter but we can send it on its way.
- Smith
May 24, 2009 1:41 a.m.
meditation plays a vital role in overcoming depression. It is not the ultimate solution butit contributes to well being. There are many methods that can eliminate the negative thoughts that keep following you. One technic is "creative imaging".
- cila
May 19, 2009 5:11 p.m.
the proplem is that during my meditation time,the negative thoughts keep following me and i end up worth.??What can i do?
- Zimo
May 18, 2009 6:18 a.m.
I have found if I use an object to focus my gaze on, that helps to keep my mind on meditating!
- No name given

10 comments posted