Antidepressants have always been considered the best treatment for anxiety disorders. According to new research, mindfulness-based stress management works equally well. Do you think we should talk about this?
It gave me tools to spy on my own. You can choose how to respond once you are aware of the anxious reaction.
Then a TCA and then a range of SSRIs. Since 33 years, I have been taking antidepressants to treat anxiety disorders.
If that were my only intervention, I would have been anxiety-ridden into madness by now.
I was intrigued by the results of a recent clinical trial conducted by researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center.
Here’s why…
Mindfulness based stress reduction can be as effective as antidepressants in treating anxiety disorders
The Georgetown team concluded that a guided meditation-based stress-reduction program was just as effective in treating anxiety disorders – generalized, social panic, specific phobias, and specific phobias – as the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram.
This work was published in JAMA Psychiatry, on the 9th November of this year.
Study first author, Dr. Elizabeth Hoge…
The study shows that mindfulness-based stress management is an effective treatment of anxiety disorders. Currently, mindfulness meditation is reimbursed only by a few providers.
The fact that mindfulness meditation does not require a clinical background to train someone as a facilitator is a big plus. Sessions can also be conducted outside of the medical setting at schools or community centers.
Learn more about it…
What is mindfulness-based Stress Reduction?
The Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) technique is a therapy in which an instructor guides the participants through weekly practices such as meditation and yoga – usually one hour per week for eight weeks – to reduce stress.
In the 1970s, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Kabat-Zinn designed it as an 8-week course for treating patients’ emotional, mental, and chronic pain when traditional therapy had not worked.
The goal
The purpose of MBSR, is to bring the person into the present so that they can experience thoughts and feelings without judgement and stop worrying about the future or the past.
If you want to try it, be sure to find a qualified instructor. If you are using it for a physical problem, check with your doctor.