Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) for Anxiety and Depression

Mental illnesses affect a person’s behavior, thoughts, and mood, so much so that neuroimaging practices have observed structural changes among patients with depression⁽¹⁾ and anxiety disorders⁽²⁾.

While the best alternative treatments for depression and natural remedies for anxiety are useful options, you may want to consider other mental illness programs.

Some experts aim to direct clinical practices toward mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) or programs that focus on processes and core competencies instead of treating medical syndromes.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

MBSR is the standard approach when it comes to MBIs. This intervention lasts eight weeks and aims to reduce stress by encouraging regular meditation to develop enhanced mindfulness skills.

Such programs typically consist of weekly group-based meditation classes that last between 2 to 2.5 hours. The entire intervention process involves a trained instructor, daily audio-guided home practices, and mindfulness retreats that last a whole day during the sixth week.

For the most part, MBSR courses focus on helping you learn how to attend to your body sensations mindfully. This process involves using various mind-body meditative practices, including body scans, sitting meditation, yoga, and gentle stretching.

The program involves a group, fostering a discussion on applying mindfulness in the daily and allowing insight into adaptive ways of handling stressors.

Compared to active control conditions, studies indicate that MBIs are superior interventions in reducing anxiety symptoms. In one study involving patients with generalized anxiety disorder, the MBSR group outperformed the group under the active stress-management education program in reducing anxiety symptom severity⁽³⁾.

MBSR’s effectiveness in reducing stress and anxiety has prompted researchers to adapt the intervention’s basic principles into other programs to treat specific populations.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

MBCT is the most widely researched adaptation of MBSR. Such interventions target major depression relapse by combining the enhanced internal awareness one gets from mindfulness training and the active recognition of negative thoughts taught in cognitive therapy.

Mindfulness principles include recognizing the deterioration of mood without immediate judgments or reactions to such changes. Meanwhile, cognitive therapy teaches you how to remove yourself from maladaptive behaviors that may lead to depression.

Mindfulness-based treatments and traditional cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) differ in their approaches. MBIs involve simple observation, while CBT involves facing metacognitions directly. Despite different methods, both practices aim to change your perspective on negative internal phenomena.

Like MBSR, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy sessions follow the eight-week group-based structure, including the length and courses.

Several randomized controlled trials demonstrated MBCT’s effectiveness in reducing relapse rates among patients with major depression⁽⁴⁾. Other researchers highlighted the intervention’s efficacy in lowering acute depression symptoms⁽⁵⁾.

Additionally, modified MBCT programs may prove effective for patients resistant to depression treatments. A study comparing MBCT to a well-matched active control program suggested that the former outperformed the latter in reducing depressive symptoms post-treatment.

Other MBIs

MBSR and MBCT may not be accessible to the general public, as they are thorough intervention programs. Such practices require substantial time and training commitment from patients and therapists.

Some alternative treatment delivery methods exist in addition to the standard mindfulness practices.

Retreat Programs

Mindfulness meditation retreats and residential programs usually range from one to three days to three months in length. Such programs are cost-effective options for intensive and well-controlled mindfulness intervention doses.

Although the evidence on the short- and long-term effects of such interventions are minimal, recent trials suggested positive effects on measures of psychosocial well-being and health, including stress and anxiety⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾.

Brief Mindfulness Interventions

Some researchers modified the standard MBSR treatment protocol into two- to three-week programs. Although this intervention is much shorter than the typical eight-week program, initial studies suggest that such short programs benefit working memory capacity and compassion^(8-9).

An even shorter intervention involves three- to four-day lab-based mindfulness training sessions. Such programs may involve 20-to-30-minute group sessions with guidance from a trained meditation instructor. Studies on such methods indicate immediate effects on neuroendocrine and psychological responses to social stress⁽¹⁰⁾.

The existing studies warrant further research into the efficacy of abbreviated mindfulness interventions in reducing clinical levels of depression or anxiety.

Online MBIs

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected group-based meditations and therapy sessions, making them seem inaccessible. Thus, you may consider internet- or app-based MBIs. Such interventions may range from two- to three-week self-guided programs to eight-week courses that mimic MBSR protocols⁽¹¹⁾.

Although the development of online MBIs is recent, results from 15 randomized-controlled trials highlighted the beneficial impact of technology-based MBIs on depression, anxiety, stress, well-being, and mindfulness⁽¹²⁾.

The limited studies on online and smartphone MBIs showed promising results, warranting further studies on the matter.

If you want to learn more about anxiety and depression, be mindful and head over to Stresscoach for free.

References

1. Song, T., Han, X., Du, L., Che, J., Liu, J., Shi, S., Fu, C., Gao, W., Lu, J., & Ma, G. (2018). The Role of Neuroimaging in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Depressive Disorder: A Recent Review. Current pharmaceutical design, 24(22), 2515–2523. https://doi.org/10.2174/1381612824666180727111142
2. Holzschneider, K., & Mulert, C. (2011). Neuroimaging in anxiety disorders. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 13(4), 453–461. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2011.13.4/kholzschneider
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9. Mrazek MD, Franklin MS, Phillips DT, Baird B, Schooler JW. Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering. Psychol Sci. 2013; 24(5):776–781. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612459659 [PubMed: 23538911]
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