· Field, et al, 1992
Clients: 52 Children and adolescents suffering from depression and “adjustment disorders”.
Treatment: 30-minute back massage daily for 5 days.
Results: Compared to a control group that did NOT receive massage, the clients who DID receive massage were less depressed and anxious. This was determined by measuring the level of cortisol in the saliva (a chemical in the body associated with depression and anxiety). Additionally, the nurses rated the subjects as being “less anxious” and “more cooperative” than they were prior to the study. Subjects also developed “more organized sleep patterns.”

· Field, T., Grizzle, N., Scafidi, F., & Schanberg, S. 1996
Clients: 32 depressed adolescent mothers.
Treatment: 30-minute massage session, twice a week for 5 weeks.
Results: Compared to a control group, the group that received massage therapy showed “behavioral and stress hormone changes, including a decrease in anxious behavior, pulse, and salivary cortisol levels”; a decrease in urinary cortisol levels also suggested lower stress for the massage therapy group.

· Jones and Field, in press
Clients: Chronically depressed adults.
Treatment: 20-minute massages, frequency unknown.
Results: Decrease in depression. This was determined by measuring brain activity in the areas of the brain associated with sadness and happiness. Patients who, before the massage, had a negative balance (depressed/sad), experienced a physiological shifting of brain activity. The activation of the right frontal EEG (sadness effect) decreased, while the activation in the left frontal EEG (happy effect) INCREASED. The end result was that either the two EEG portions of the brain “evened out” in their activity (minimum results), or the “happy” brain activity would outweigh the “sad” brain activity. In other words, they went from being depressed to either “neutral” or “happy”… all this after just a 20-minute massage!

· Field, 1995; Porges, 1997
Massage has also been noted to increase activity in the area of the brain known to stimulate “facial expressions and vocalizations, which in turn could feedback to effect less depressed feelings.” In a nutshell, this study says that massage makes us grunt and smile—and it could just be the grunting and smiling that makes us feel better.

All of these studies show that someone who was depressed, then RECEIVES MASSAGE(S), is LESS DEPRESSED AND LESS STRESSED than they were before the massage. Imagine that! However, the study that I found most interesting (due to the less obvious nature of its findings) is the following:

· Field, Hernandez-Reif, Quintino, et al., 1997
Clients: Depressed grandparents
Treatment: Give infants a massage, daily for one month; AND receive a massage themselves, daily for one month.
Results: Both treatments resulted in a decrease in depression/stress, and increased self-esteem. However, the most interesting part is that they experienced MORE dramatic results after the month of GIVING massages than they did after the month of receiving massage! Additionally, their lifestyle habits also improved after the month of GIVING massage—they drank “fewer cups of coffee per day…made more social phone calls, and they made fewer trips to the doctor’s office”!! In other words, the grandparents BENEFITED MORE FROM GIVING the massage than they did from receiving the massage.

I can somewhat verify this from my own experience. After I receive a good massage, I certainly feel better overall—happier and more relaxed. But I’ve also noticed that if I give a massage that seems to go exceptionally well, I can feel even better. I think this study is most interesting because it shows something that is seemingly not obvious or logical… it’s something that Jesus told us 2,000 years ago; but now we have the “data” to prove that He was right: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”!!!

Therefore, if anyone reading this report is feeling depressed, I will make the sacrifice of being your massage client (at no charge to me, of course), so you can get maximum anti-depression benefit!! Who needs Zoloft and Prozac when you’ve got ME around?

So in conclusion, does massage "cure" depression? Researcher Andrew Vickers agrees with Bill Mueller (founder of Mueller College, the massage school I attended) almost word for word when he says, “It’s far too simplistic to say massage can CURE depression or other diseases, but IT CAN HELP US COPE BETTER AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE.”

Sources:
http://www.mauitouch.com/Massage_3.asp
http://www.ons.org/publications/journals/ONF/Volume29/Issue3/290335.asp
http://www.runet.edu/~rloehrer/Field%20art.htm
http://stresshelp.tripod.com/id8.html
http://www.miami.edu/touch-research/massage1.html