A Qualitative Study of Use of Mindfulness to Reduce Long-Term Use of Habit-Forming Prescription Drugs

Conclusions: Analyses suggested that mindfulness might increase individuals' control over medication intake by shifting individuals' attention toward present-moment sensory awareness of concrete stimuli, thereby facilitating other kinds of control, such as non-judgmental inner self-guidance and more adaptive ways of reducing distress. We suggest that it is the moment-to-moment sensory awareness and non-controlling observation of distress, together with inner self-guidance, that differentiates mindful control from dysfunctional attempts at direct, top down control of medication-use.
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research