Mindfulness Based Stress reduction is not designed to replace the regimen of treatment that your health professional has recommended for you, although it can complement any medical or therapeutic treatment.
Visit the website of UMass Medical Center for details of local MBSR practitioners.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction may be of use to people with conditions such as: depression, heart disease, chronic pain, High Blood Pressure, anxiety and panic, cancer, sleep disturbances, job and family stress, AIDS, or skin disorders.
The majority of people report lasting decreases in both physical and psychological symptoms. Pain levels improve and people learn to cope better with pain that may not go away. The majority have also reported an increase in their ability to relax, more energy and enthusiasm for life, greater self esteem and improved capability for coping with short and long term stress.
Below, we list a few of the professional papers that have been published that show the effectiveness of MBSR in a variety of conditions.
MBSR and Chronic Pain
Kabat-Zinn. J., An out-patient program in Behavioral Medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results. General Hospital Psychiatry (1982) 4:33-47. Click here for Abstract
Kabat-Zinn, J., Lipworth, L. and Burney, R. The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain. J. Behav. Med. (1985) 8:163-190. Click here for Abstract
Kabat-Zinn, J., Lipworth, L., Burney, R. and Sellers, W., Four year follow-up of a meditation-based program for the self-regulation of chronic pain: Treatment outcomes and compliance. Clin. J. Pain (1986) 2:159-173. Click here for Abstract
MBSR and Psoriasis
Kabat-Zinn, J., Wheeler, E., Light, T., Skillings, A., Scharf, M., Cropley, T. G., Hosmer, D., and Bernhard, J., Influence of a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention on rates of skin clearing in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis undergoing phototherapy (UVB) and photochemotherapy (PUVA). Psychosom. Med. (1998) 60:625-632. Click here for Abstract
MBSR and Anxiety Disorders
Kabat-Zinn, J., Massion, A. O., Kristeller, J., Peterson, L.G., Fletcher, K., Pbert, L., Linderking, W., Santorelli, S. F., Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Am. J. Psychiatry (1992) 149:936-943. Click here for Abstract
Miller, J., Fletcher, K. and Kabat-Zin, J., Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry (1995) 17:192-200. Click here for Abstract
MBSR and Fibromyalgia
Kenneth H. Kaplan, M.D, Don L. Goldenberg, M.D., and Maureen Galvin-Nadeau, M.S., C.S., The Impact of a Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Fibromyalgia. General Hospital Psychiatry 15, 284-289, 1993. Click here for Abstract
MBSR and Depression
John Teasdale, Zinden Segal, Mark G. Williams, Ridgeway, Soulsby, Lau. Prevention of Relapse/Recurrence in Major Depression by Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Click here for Abstract
