What are the Benefits of Mindfulness?

Mindfulness continues to grow throughout the world. Subsequently, there has been a lot of research on mindfulness and some of the benefits of mindfulness include:

  • decreasing the symptoms of anxiety (Miller, Fletcher & Kabat-Zinn, 1995),
  • increasing a sense of empathy and spirituality (Shapiro, Schwartz & Bonner, 1998),
  • decreasing symptoms of chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn, Chapman & Salmon, 1987),
  • reduce stress levels in healthy people (Chiesa & Seretti, 2009),
  • decreasing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Baxter et al, 1992),
  • increasing well-being (Brown & Ryan, 2003),
  • helpful in reducing the effects of psoriasis (Kabat-Zinn et al, 1998),
  • preventing relapse in depression (Segal et al, 2007) and drug addiction (Parks, Anderson & Marlett, 2001), and
  • decreasing stress and enhancing quality of life for those with breast and prostate cancer (Carlson L et al, 2007).

 

References

Baxter, L., Schwartz, J., Bergman, K., Szuba, M., Guze, B., Mazziota, J. (1992). Caudate glucose metabolic rate changes with both drug and behaviour therapy for obsessive compulsive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49(9), 681-689.

Brown, K., & Ryan, R. (2003). The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and its Role in Psychological Well-beingJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.

Carlson, L., Speca, M., Faris, P., & Patel, K. (2007). One-year pre-post intervention follow-up of psychological, immune, endocrine and blood pressure outcomes of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in breast and prostate cancer outpatients. Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, 21(8), 1038-1049.

Chiesa, A., &  Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 593-600

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 144–156.

Kabat-Zinn. J., Chapman, A., & Salmon, P. (1987). Relationship of cognitive and somatic components of anxiety to patient preference for different relaxation techniques. Mind/Body Medicine, 2(3), 101-110.

Kabat-Zinn, J., Wheeler, E., Light, T., Skillings, A., Scharf, M., Cropley, T., Hosmer, D., & Bernhard. J. (1998). Influence of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention on rates of skin clearing in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis undergoing phototherapy (UPA) and photochemotherapy (PUVA). Psychomatic Medicine, 60(5), 625-632.

Ludwig, D., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2008). Mindfulness in Medicine. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300 (11), 1350-1352.

Miller, J., Fletcher, K & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1995). Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders.General Hospital Psychiatry, 17(3), 192-200.

Parks, G., Anderson, B., & Marlett, G. (2001). Interpersonal Handbook of Alcohol Dependence and Problems. New York, USA: John Wiley.

Segal, V., Williams, M., Teasdale, D., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way through Depression. New York, USA: Guilford Press.

Shapiro, S., Schwartz. G., & Booner, G. (1998). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and premedical students. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 21(6), 581-589.

 

Click here to read some other frequently asked questions on mindfulness!

 

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