Benefits & Limitations of Mindfulness Meditation For Anxiety & Depression, According to Science
The magnitude of people across the globe affected by mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression, is astonishing. Unfortunately, the overall efficacy (or lack thereof) of standard treatments is somewhat depressing in and of itself. As such, the need for new or complementary therapies that are at least as effective, if not more, is pressing. In recent years, mindfulness-based meditation as a potential treatment for such disorders has soared in popularity. While there is beginning to be greater support for its clinical applications in the scientific research, not all the evidence is of the highest quality. Some prior studies suffer from poor methodology while the occasional reporting on the benefits of mindfulness has spread misinformation. This article by Intelligent Speculation will dive into the current affairs of mindfulness-based mediation science and its substantiated, beneficial effects on the brain while also exploring its current limitations in modern medicine.
The Current State of Scientific Affairs into Mindfulness Meditation
“Mindfulness is typically considered to be a mental faculty relating to attention, awareness, retention/memory, and/or discernment” [1].
The current state of scientific research into the clinical efficacy of mindfulness meditation is dynamic and evolving. Today, there are Harvard researchers breaking ground into the specific mechanisms of how this type of meditation affects the brain. However, this research still has a long way to go. Unfortunately, many are currently falling into the trap of proclaiming mindfulness as a “panacea” or “silver bullet” that can cure or resolve anything—but this just isn’t the case. Expectations should be tempered until more high quality research can be conducted on the clinical efficacy of mindfulness as an effective tool against mental illness and mood disorders.
Currently, there are various studies indicating promising results on the use of mindfulness meditation for various applications in cognition and mental health. Studies exploring everything from addiction to sharpening one’s attention are currently underway. This article will explore the various substantiated benefits of mindfulness meditation therapy as well as its current limitations to try and provide an objective analysis of this radical new therapeutic approach.
Anxiety & Depression Disorders Are Growing Increasingly Prevalent, But Frontline Treatment Remains Ineffective
Some of the modern day research into mindfulness meditation is coming out of the prestigious Harvard University. Dr. Benjamin Shapero, a psychiatrist at Harvard, discusses in this blog out of the Harvard Gazette how many front-line interventions (such as antidepressant medications) are ineffective for many patients [2]. With 16.1 million patients suffering from major depression in 2015 alone, it’s safe to say that this is growing into a major epidemic. In regards to anxiety disorders, current statistics reveal that lifetime prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is 5-7%, with as much as 30-60% of patients failing to achieve remission of their symptoms after receiving traditional treatment modalities [3]. The same study reporting these prevalent figures also determined that many patients do not seek traditional pharmacotherapy due to social stigmas. However, this is not to say traditional pharmacological approaches and interventions are not effective for a large number of patients—in fact, they are. But it is true that these drugs have not lived up to their expectations both in the diversity of patients they’re able to treat and by the effectiveness by which they’re able to diminish or alleviate symptoms.
While these are just a few of the primary reasons new therapies such as mindfulness meditation are gaining rapid popularity in society today, it is important to note that neither mindfulness meditation or medications work for everyone in the population with these illnesses. However, there is a possibility that as an adjunct therapy, mindfulness may be able to make up for the limitations of traditional pharmacotherapy in treating them.
Harvard Researchers Are on The Front Lines of Mindfulness Meditation Research
Some of the most cutting-edge research into mindfulness-based psychotherapy is emerging from Harvard University. Gaëlle Desbordes, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, has been conducting research into mindfulness meditation by utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), noting that these beneficial changes persist in the amygdala of the brain long after subjects ceased engaging in their meditation practice [1]. Currently, Desbordes is working with patients screened by Shapero, conducting fMRI’s on people who have undergone an 8-week course in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT, to measure its efficacy in treating depression [1]. As a clinical biologist deeply fascinated by the effects of meditation based on personal experience, I’m certainly intrigued to see the results, which are expected to be published sometime this year.
The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Attention Span
Anxiety disorders are characterized by increased worry and stress that is difficult to control. Hallmarks of the disorder are “poor sleep, muscle tension, and irritability,” all of which can seriously detract from an individual’s ability to maintain their focus on the task at hand and their attention in the present moment. Curiously enough, a recent 2018 study demonstrated that brief mindfulness meditation improves attention in novices—a potentially promising finding that can benefit those who suffer from both anxiety as well as attention related disorders [4].
How The Mindfulness-Attention Study Was Conducted
Researchers in the aforementioned study conducted two separate trials and unearthed fascinating findings. In the first study, participants were randomly assigned to listen to a ten minute meditation tape and were subsequently found to have better accuracy over incongruent trials on a Flanker task, with no detriment in reaction times (RTs), indicating better allocation of resources. In the second study, those assigned to listen to a meditation tape performed an Attention Network Test (ANT) more quickly than control participants, with no detriment in performance [3]. Additionally, the following 2015 study strongly supports the benefits of improved attention performance in mitigating anxiety disorders [5].
The Key Role of Emotional Regulation in Anxiety & Depressive Disorders and How Mindfulness Can Help
A recent, 2019 study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry examined the benefits of mindfulness meditation on four mechanisms related to emotional regulation: worry, rumination, reappraisal and suppression. Their results demonstrated that mindfulness was related to “lower levels of depression and anxiety both directly and indirectly” [6]. It was determined that all four of these factors were key regulators in the relationship between mindfulness and depression. To a smaller extent, this relationship was also observed between mindfulness and anxiety. Their overall results certainly suggest, “meditation focusing on reducing worry and rumination may be especially useful in reducing the risk of developing clinical depression and to a lesser extent, generalized anxiety” [5].
Against Panaceas: Current Limitations of Mindfulness Research
While this novel area of research has gained much popularity across various fields of medicine and society at large, it is not without its limitations. As mentioned earlier, there are systematic limitations in experimental design, research methodology, and other key elements that factor into the quality of the available research. The following are some of the key shortcomings that I felt deserved closer evaluation.
There is a Lack of Consensus Regarding Operational Definitions
Even the operational definition of “mindfulness” is debated and this becomes further complicated when considering the breadth and depth of prior “experience” an individual may have in mindfulness meditation [7]. Currently, there is no standard that helps discern a veteran Vipassana meditator of ten years versus someone who began experimenting with a mindfulness meditation app on their iPhone just last week. Furthermore, the delineation between the terms meditation and mindfulness often gets lost in translation when mindfulness is discussed in society and in the media.
The Media Buzz is, As Usual, Exaggerated
The lack of agreement on the most basic operational definitions of mindfulness meditation may have certainly allowed for easier media manipulation of this content. Early results from scientific research is often sensationalized and reported on before that science has the opportunity to be reproduced and further validated [7]. However, exaggerating and inflating the potential benefits of a potentially therapeutic technique in the media does no one any favors in the long run. Portraying mindfulness as a panacea for a host of human deficiencies when there isn’t robust evidence to support these claims is a dangerous practice and a disservice to society. Patients and prospective mindfulness practitioners should be aware of these current limitations and consider mindfulness meditation as a potentially effective adjunct to their current, medically supervised therapies.
For instance, while antidepressants don’t work for everyone in the population, they do work for a large number of people and there is indeed reproducible clinical evidence to support this. Perhaps, someday, there will be evidence just as robust supporting the efficacy of mindfulness to tackle mental health issues with the same effectiveness as the current class of front-line pharmaceuticals. However, there is currently not enough research to make this claim and those seeking help should absolutely seek professional medical treatment from a professional.
Many of the Studies Are Still Weak
The lack of quality scientific research makes drawing conclusions difficult. Science is best conducted when large samples, representative of their populations, are used so the findings can be easily extrapolated to the world at large. As mentioned earlier, mindfulness is a mental faculty characterized by a variety of factors including awareness, memory and attention [1]. However, research has shown that many studies fail to take all these various faculties into account [8]. Another significant shortcoming is the small sample sizes used in some studies. Finally, the concern of reproducibility is a significant one in clinical and scientific research. While the media may jump on early findings to conjure up a catchy headline, the truth is, this research is still new and in need of its findings reproduced by other scientists. The ambiguity in operating definitions, variation and limitations in experimental design and poor research methodology are all shortcomings that need to be carefully and deliberately considered when analyzing mindfulness research.
Closing Thoughts
While the numbers of individuals afflicted with severe depression and anxiety are growing, the efficacy of standard psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatments is, unfortunately, falling short of ideal treatment goals. Furthermore, standard pharmacotherapy, such as the use of SSRI’s, is commonly associated with unpleasant side effects and still socially stigmatized despite their clinical efficacy for a large portion of patients. As such, the psychiatric and clinical communities can potentially greatly benefit from the surge in interest in new treatment modalities such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy and mindfulness meditation that may be used as potential adjuncts or alternatives to more standard approaches.
Given that depression and anxiety remain the prevalent mental health disorders in society today, it should be noted that we obviously don’t understand the mechanisms that lead to these mental ailments. Mindfulness meditation should be another weapon in the arsenal used to properly manage these conditions, and, paired with medication or therapy, can be a useful tool to get a better grasp of the sources of these conditions within oneself. Such therapies have the potential to empower patients in their treatment by putting the power of recovery and control into their hands instead of having them depend on external pharmacological or therapeutic agents. This allows for greater independence on the part of the patient, which may in turn boost their self-esteem and their ability to believe in the possibility of ultimate remission of their symptoms.
With new studies consistently taking advantage of more rigorous experimental designs currently being conducted, this is certainly a fascinating field of research that this scientific writer is paying very close attention to! It is this scientist and authors’ hope that better science over time will allow more careful and clinically effective implementation of mindfulness meditation into mental health medicine.
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