Mindfulness Exercising: The New Cure For Anxiety

Mindfulness Exercising Works: Now There’s Science Behind It

We know that mindfulness and mindfulness exercising helps with recovery. We’ve learned over time that the more we work on anti-stress and anxiety methods we can use at any time, the more we’re in control of our lives and recovery. Now there’s science behind what many ancient civilizations have known for thousands of years.

Mindfulness Exercising: Anxiety Cures Today Are Different

From the Washington Post A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry showed that people who received eight weeks of mindfulness-based interventions experienced a decrease in anxiety that matched those who were prescribed escitalopram, a common anti-anxiety medication that is often prescribed under the brand name Lexapro.

Mindfulness Exercising: Research

A seven-point scale was used to assess anxiety among 208 participants, with a score of seven representing extreme anxiety and a score of one being normal. In both the medication and the mindfulness groups, the average score after treatment dropped from a moderate level of anxiety to a mild level of anxiety.

Both groups began the study with similar baseline scores (4.44 in the mindfulness group and 4.51 in the medication group.) By the end of the study, anxiety scores in both groups had declined to an average of 3.09 on the anxiety scale, a statistically similar change that showed the treatments to be equally effective.

Mindfulness Exercising: Breathing

Mindfulness practices such as breathing exercises have been used to treat anxiety for a long time, but this is the first study showing how effective they can be in comparison with standard treatments for anxiety disorders, said the study’s lead author, Elizabeth Hoge, who is a psychiatrist and director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program at Georgetown University.

She believes the findings help support the use of mindfulness as a viable intervention that may be better than traditional treatments for some people, such as those who aren’t comfortable seeing a psychiatrist or who experience negative side effects from medication.

“We can’t yet predict who will do better with which type of treatment,” Hoge said. “But there’s nothing that says you couldn’t do both at the same time.”