International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
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Int J Psychophysiol · Sep 2018
Adding HRV biofeedback to psychotherapy increases heart rate variability and improves the treatment of major depressive disorder.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a significant marker of health outcomes with decreased HRV predicting increased disease risk. HRV is decreased in major depressive disorder (MDD) but existing treatments for depression do not return heart rate variability to normal levels even with successful treatment of depression. ⋯ The HRVB+psychotherapy group showed a larger increase in HRV and a larger decrease in depressive symptoms relative to the other groups over a six-week period, whereas the psychotherapy group only did not improve HRV. Results support the supplementation of psychotherapy with HRVB in the treatment of MDD.