8 ‑week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course found to be as effective as Lexapro (escitalopram) to treat adults with anxiety disorders, and with far fewer side effects

In this study, 276 patients with an anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to either an eight-week course of MBSR or a well-known anti-anxiety drug, Lexapro (with ongoing monitoring). The MBSR course, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, involved introducing people to a variety of meditation practices (like mindful breathing, body scans, walking meditation, and loving-kindness meditation) and having them meditate daily at home to improve their skills. Overall, the training is designed to help people learn how to pay attention to the present moment and accept whatever sensations, thoughts, and feelings arise without judgment. During the treatment time, people in both groups reported how anxious they felt and whether or not they were experiencing any side effects. Afterwards, they were followed for six months to see how they fared, but without the control of the initial eight-week treatment—meaning, they were free to continue with the drug or meditation, or try another form of treatment. Results showed that at the end of eight weeks, both groups had equal reductions in their anxiety symptoms, suggesting that MBSR may work as well as Lexapro for people with anxiety. “Meditation, when done in this particular way as a daily practice, is very effective in treating anxiety, as effective as a drug,” says the study’s lead author, psychiatrist Elizabeth Hoge of Georgetown University. Besides reducing anxiety, MBSR also had fewer problematic side effects than Lexapro: 79% of patients i...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Education & Lifelong Learning anxiety anxiety disorder body scans cognitive-behavioral-therapy Lexapro mbsr medication meditation mindful breathing Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction psychiatric disorder psyc Source Type: blogs