A report caught my eye towards the end of last year:
Mindfulness may be as effective as antidepressant for anxiety symptoms
Researchers assessed the progress of two cohorts with anxiety, one cohort treated with a common antidepressant drug, the other cohort attending a mindfulness course, MBSR.
Results were reviewed at four and eight weeks.
At four weeks the medicated cohort were reporting a greater improvement than the mindfulness cohort, however at eight weeks both cohorts had the same improvement in their symptoms; interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, at eight weeks the mindfulness cohort experienced less side effects compared to the medicated cohort.
So the takeaway is that over eight weeks, mindfulness is slower to act than an antidepressant, but achieves the same outcome symptom wise with less side effects. Of course taking a pill is easier than carving time out for a mindfulness practice so the ease of the intervention needs to be considered as well.
It would be interesting to see these results over a longer term, and also to see a blended approach with medication given initially alongside a long term mindfulness approach.
However this research does underline what was already known – that mindfulness can be a viable alternative to, or can compliment, medication.
One final thing to add – in this study the mindfulness cohort were using a structured programme known as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, MBSR – this is a well known course syllabus which includes yoga based movement practices alongside sitting practices. As part of my Yoga Therapy training I wrote my short dissertation on the efficacy of general Yoga classes, and different styles, versus courses like MBSR, based on published research. Where taught in a therapeutic context, there didn’t appear to be a significant difference in outcomes. So tentatively any consistent therapeutic yoga and/or mindfulness practice should produce a positive outcome for anxiety, however consistency will be the key, alongside working with a teacher who is therapeutically orientated.
