Mindfulness Coaching May Help Arthritis Patients Cope
A recent research study is showing that mindfulness meditation training, an approach to meditation that focuses on teaching people how to deal with the thoughts that run through their mind, can be effective in helping people with rheumatoid arthritis deal with physical and emotional pain.
Patients in Norway who received the training didn't have less pain compared to those who didn't have the training, but analysts discovered that they coped better, were less fatigued and showed less stress.Researchers state that while the patients involved still experienced pain, they were more effective in dealing with that pain in a positive manner.
Mindfulness techniques teach a person to mentally "remain in the here and now," explained Stefan G. Hoffman who's a professor of psychology at Boston University.Usually the meditation is focused on the person's breathing or some other point of focus. As the person meditates, thoughts will enter their mind and they are taught how to allow those thoughts to float through their mind without giving any time to focus on them.As the person meditates and a thought enters their mind, they simply take notice of the thought and allow it to flow through their consciousness without staying for a significant length of time. The patient re-focuses their attention back on their breath or whatever they were using as a focal point of attention.
Zangi said there's only been somewhat limited study into how mindfulness affects people's capabilities to cope with pain. In this specific study, researchers recruited 73 people aged 20 to 70 who suffered from inflammatory rheumatic joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
One group of participants were giving specific training in mindfulness. They were a part of 10 group sessions that lasted 4 1/2 hours each and they received an additional session after 6 months. "Through exercises such as guided imagery, drawing, moving to music and use of poetry, participants are invited to process and express their emotions, releasing the energy that has been used to avoid or suppress them," Zangi said.
The other participants received cds with training about mindfulness, but it was up to them to decide whether they would listen to them.After a year had passed, there was follow-up check-in on 67 of the people who participated in the study, to see how things were going for them.
The study, released in the Dec. 20 online edition of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, found that people who took part in the in-person training reported better coping and overall well-being than the others. Kendrin Sonneville, a clinical nutrition specialist at Children's Hospital, Boston, who's researching mindfulness and eating, said the study is strong. "It adds to previous research that suggests mindfulness is most effective for mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and binge-eating disorder, plus pain syndromes and musculoskeletal diseases," Sonneville said.
Researchers state that the next step in the process is to gain a clearer picture as to why mindfulness helps people with arthritic conditions, deal with the pain. They said it could be anything from providing a mental distraction to the pain, to the possibility that it creates an overall state of relaxation that is conducive to pain reduction.
Patients in Norway who received the training didn't have less pain compared to those who didn't have the training, but analysts discovered that they coped better, were less fatigued and showed less stress.Researchers state that while the patients involved still experienced pain, they were more effective in dealing with that pain in a positive manner.
Mindfulness techniques teach a person to mentally "remain in the here and now," explained Stefan G. Hoffman who's a professor of psychology at Boston University.Usually the meditation is focused on the person's breathing or some other point of focus. As the person meditates, thoughts will enter their mind and they are taught how to allow those thoughts to float through their mind without giving any time to focus on them.As the person meditates and a thought enters their mind, they simply take notice of the thought and allow it to flow through their consciousness without staying for a significant length of time. The patient re-focuses their attention back on their breath or whatever they were using as a focal point of attention.
Zangi said there's only been somewhat limited study into how mindfulness affects people's capabilities to cope with pain. In this specific study, researchers recruited 73 people aged 20 to 70 who suffered from inflammatory rheumatic joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
One group of participants were giving specific training in mindfulness. They were a part of 10 group sessions that lasted 4 1/2 hours each and they received an additional session after 6 months. "Through exercises such as guided imagery, drawing, moving to music and use of poetry, participants are invited to process and express their emotions, releasing the energy that has been used to avoid or suppress them," Zangi said.
The other participants received cds with training about mindfulness, but it was up to them to decide whether they would listen to them.After a year had passed, there was follow-up check-in on 67 of the people who participated in the study, to see how things were going for them.
The study, released in the Dec. 20 online edition of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, found that people who took part in the in-person training reported better coping and overall well-being than the others. Kendrin Sonneville, a clinical nutrition specialist at Children's Hospital, Boston, who's researching mindfulness and eating, said the study is strong. "It adds to previous research that suggests mindfulness is most effective for mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and binge-eating disorder, plus pain syndromes and musculoskeletal diseases," Sonneville said.
Researchers state that the next step in the process is to gain a clearer picture as to why mindfulness helps people with arthritic conditions, deal with the pain. They said it could be anything from providing a mental distraction to the pain, to the possibility that it creates an overall state of relaxation that is conducive to pain reduction.
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