Elevate mental health wellness
"Elevate to your greater good."
It can be really exciting to come across research offering insight into new techniques . . .
. . . particularly when the method allows us to reach more people than we usually can.
A team of researchers out of the Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Sweden, led by Jan Sundquist, MD, PhD, wanted to compare the outcome of mindfulness-based group therapy against that of individual-based cognitive therapy (CBT).
This article reviews the ways in which cognitive and behavioral treatments for depression and anxiety have been advanced by the application of mindfulness practices. Research on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) has increased exponentially in the past decade. The most common include Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). MBIs have demonstrated efficacy in reducing anxiety and depression symptom severity in a broad range of treatment-seeking individuals. MBIs consistently outperform non-evidence-based treatments and active control conditions, such as health education, relaxation training, and supportive psychotherapy. MBIs also perform comparably to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The treatment principles of MBIs for anxiety and depression are compatible with those of standard CBT.
Mind-body interventions have gained increasing popularity for use with anxiety symptoms; however, it is unclear what role they play in the treatment of anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Although psychopharmacology and psychotherapy treatment interventions are available, mind-body interventions may be low-stigma options that can serve as effective alternatives. The goal of this review is to provide clinicians with an overview of high-quality studies for the most well researched mind-body interventions. This review involved a search of the primary literature, including meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), that evaluated mind-body interventions for the treatment of anxiety disorders. When published evidence was limited, lower-quality studies were reviewed. Overall, data were limited on the efficacy of most mind-body modalities for anxiety disorders.
Read more: Anxiety and Stress Related Disordershttps://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.focus.20200042
Group mindfulness treatment is as effective as individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in patients with depression and anxiety, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden and Region Skåne. This is the first randomized study to compare group mindfulness treatment and individual cognitive behavioral therapy in patients with depression and anxiety in primary health care.
Anxiety and depression are the most common mental disorders. Due to their negative impact on work capability and performance, mental disorders have received widespread attention. When young people go to college, they experience a variety of stressors, such as leaving home and becoming independent, assuming new responsibilities, and embracing new academic challenges (1). In addition to the effects of academic and social lives and personal habits, this sudden independence brings numerous choices to students. As a result, many college students report increasing levels of stress and an inability to cope with their stressors, thus leading to an overwhelming feeling (2). Frequently, college students make sacrifices in some major aspects of life, and sleep quality is thus often neglected. To this end, early psychological interventions may contribute to the prevention of mental disorders (3). Moreover, the prevalence of mental health disorders varies widely among university students; in some countries, the prevalence of depressive symptoms reaches up to 50% (4). Therefore, it is necessary to develop a simple, economical, feasible and effective intervention for addressing mental health issues among university students.