Jillian Herman

Mathew Arndt
Health - 1240
March 8, 2015

Mindfulness Meditation as Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

Mindfulness meditation practice has been used throughout the years to help in reducing
everyday stresses and anxiety that comes in to our day to day lives. More recently
mindfulness meditation has been researched for possible use in relieving diagnosed
anxiety disorders and in multiple studies has shown to reduce severity of anxiety
disorders.

In a study a group of ninety-three individuals who were diagnosed with generalized

anxiety disorder were randomized to an 8-week intervention. These individuals anxiety
symptoms were measured using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the Beck Anxiety
Inventory. After this 8- week intervention there were clear results of improvement in
each individual. Anxiety symptoms were greatly lessened. Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, MD sifted through nearly 19,000 meditation studies, in the end finding 47
trials that addressed mindfulness meditation in anxiety reduction. Their findings,
published in this weeks JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest that mindfulness meditation
can help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression, and pain.

It is believed that the reason the practice of mindfulness meditation helps in anxiety
reduction is because people with anxiety are focused on distracting thoughts that have
too much power over them, they cant distinguish between nagging thoughts and
problem solving thoughts. Unlike other relaxation techniques, mindfulness meditation
focuses on relaxation of the mind rather than the body. After spending time practicing
mindfulness meditation individuals are able to think Oh theres that thought again. and
be able to accept the thought for what it is, address it, and move on. Also bringing
awareness to what thoughts an individual may have that brings them anxiety. People
find that these techniques are especially helpful when practicing them with a group.
Mindfulness-based stress and anxiety reduction training, developed by Dr. Jon KabatZinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, is available in
many places across the US.

Mindfulness meditation has also been proven to help people who experience frequent
panic attacks caused by anxiety disorders. People who were taught to accept thoughts
leading to panic attacks instead of over analyze them were able to reduce their panic
attacks and return to a calm state quicker than those who werent taught mindfulness
meditation. Mindfulness meditation also helps in bringing awareness to thoughts that
can set off a panic attack for a person helping to stop a panic attack before it ever
begins.
I personally have benefited from the use of mindfulness meditation to reduce panic
attacks without even knowing what it was called i was doing. I would talk to my mother
about my panic attacks and she told me to look at the thoughts coming into my head

just as what they are, thoughts, and to accept them and move on. By doing this I often
am able to stop my panic attacks soon after i feel one coming on. After starting
Meditation class at SLCC it has helped even further in being able to recognize my
thoughts and which ones cause me to have anxiety. This has greatly reduced my every
day anxiety as well as made my panic attacks less frequent.

Through many studies and research mindfulness meditation has been shown to help
reduce the symptoms of Anxiety Disorders by teaching individuals to be aware of their
thoughts. When one can be aware of their thoughts that bring them anxiety they can
accept the thought as just a thought and be able to move on from it. Mindfulness
meditation is a growing treatment for anxiety disorders throughout the US and its
popularity continues to grow.

Works Cited
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindful... : Psychosomatic
Medicine (LWW)
http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/2003/07000/
Alterations_in_Brain_and_Immune_Function_Produced.14.aspx
Anxiety Panic Hub Assistance for people with an Anxiety Disorder - Meditation (Anxiety
Panic Hub Assistance for people with an Anxiety Disorder - Meditation)
http://www.panicattacks.com.au/meditate/meditate.html
Mindfulness meditation may ease anxiety, mental stress - Harvard Health Blog (Harvard
Health Blog RSS)
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mentalstress-201401086967
Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety
Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity (The Journal of clinical psychiatry)
By: Hoge, Elizabeth, Eric Bui, Luana Marques, Christina Metcalf, Laura Morris, Donald
Robinaugh, John Worthington, Mark Pollack, and Naomi Simon.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772979/