Mindfulness-based stress reduction turned out to be effective in treating anxiety disorders

Randomized clinical trial published in JAMA PsychiatryGuided mindfulness-based stress reduction programs may be as effective as escitalopram for anxiety disorder patients. The data came shortly after the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended screening for anxiety disorders due to their high prevalence.

“Our study provides evidence for clinicians, insurance companies, and health systems to recommend, include, and provide reimbursement for mindfulness-based stress reduction as an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. “Mindfulness meditation is currently reimbursed by very few providers,” said first study author Elizabeth. In a press release, said her Hoge, M.D., director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program and associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown. “A great advantage of mindfulness meditation is that training to become a mindfulness facilitator does not require a clinical degree. Additionally, sessions can be conducted outside of a healthcare setting, such as a school or community center. increase.”

Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, and fear of specific places or situations, such as crowds or public transportation. These disorders contribute to an increased risk of suicide, disability, and distress and are commonly treated in psychiatric clinics.

Currently prescribed anxiety medications are very effective. However, many patients have difficulty accessing these medications, do not respond to them, or find side effects to be barriers to adherence. Standardized mindfulness-based interventions can reduce feelings of anxiety. However, previous studies have not compared these interventions with effective anxiolytics.

Clinicians recruited 276 patients from three hospitals in Boston, New York City, and Washington DC between June 2018 and February 2020 and randomly assigned them to MBSR or escitalopram. MBSR was delivered weekly for 8 weeks through a 2.5 hour face-to-face class, a weekend retreat class during the day during week 5 or 6, and 45 minutes of home practice exercise daily.

Anxiety symptoms were assessed at enrollment and at the completion of the intervention at 8 weeks, and post-treatment assessments at 12 and 24 weeks after enrollment. , did not know whether the patient being measured had received drugs or MBSR.

By the end of the study, 102 patients had completed MBSR and 106 patients had completed the medication course. Patients were relatively young, with an average age of 33 years, and her 156 females, accounting for 75% of her enrollees, were included.

Using validated ratings, researchers measured the severity of anxiety symptoms across all disorders using a scale of 1 to 7. 7 is severe anxiety. Both groups experienced a decrease in anxiety symptoms, both from an average of approximately 4.5. This means that the severity of people’s anxiety has decreased by about 30%.

After participating in previous studies and rejoining this study, enrollee Olga Cannistraro says she learned two important MBSR techniques.

“It gave me the tools to spy on myself. When I notice an anxious response, I can choose how to deal with it. It’s not magic, but it’s a lifelong training.” Instead of my anxiety progressing, it went in a different direction.

Hoge says that while mindfulness meditation works, everyone is willing to invest the time and effort to successfully complete all the required sessions and have regular home practices that enhance their effectiveness. said it was important to emphasize

“Also, virtual delivery via video conferencing is likely to be effective as long as the ‘live’ components such as question and answer time and group discussions are maintained,” Hoge said in a press release.

Hoge added that there are phone apps available that offer guided meditations, but researchers don’t know how the app compares to the full face-to-face weekly group class experience.

Most enrollees completed the 8-week treatment course before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the research team conducted a second phase of the study that involved reorganizing treatment into online video conferencing during the pandemic. This will continue to be analyzed in future analyses. The effects of her MBSR on sleep and depression will also be analyzed in future studies.

reference

Mindfulness-based stress reduction is as effective as antidepressants for treating anxiety disorders. Georgetown University Medical Center. November 9, 2022. Accessed November 10, 2022. https://gumc.georgetown.edu/news-release/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction-is-as-effective-as-an-antidepressant-drug-for-treating-anxiety-disorders/