The Benefits of Meditation in Addiction Recovery

Although rigorous trials have been conducted, a number of these studies have methodological limitations that limit the ability to conclusively affirm the effectiveness of mindfulness intervention with SUDs and prevention of relapse. For instance, Sancho et al’s16 recent systematic review raises the concern that MBI intervention effects do not seem to persist at follow-up assessment. Thus, there remains a need for more large-scale, robust RCTs to reveal the clinical outcomes and therapeutic mechanisms of MBIs for addiction. These neurocognitive processes contribute to craving and elicit substance use behavior long after an individual has stopped using substances. Even when total abstinence is achieved, substance-related cues and negative emotional states can continue to trigger relapse.50,58 Thus, interventions are needed to target the manifold processes undergirding substance use disorder and relapse.

You may even feel worse when you delve into those more challenging spaces in your heart and mind. Give yourself time to try and sit with and confront those difficult emotions to see if you don’t feel relaxed eventually. There is also emerging evidence that practicing mindfulness may have a positive impact on your interpersonal relationships. A 2018 study found that people who were more mindful also tended to be more accepting of their partner’s flaws and imperfections. Mindfulness doesn’t just help you focus on your thoughts or remember things more readily—evidence suggests it can actually play a role in your ability to think flexibly and clearly. After all, the practice itself is all about learning to be more aware of your thoughts without imposing judgments on them.

Happiness Break: Find Calm When You Can’t Clear Your Mind, With Lama Rod Owens

Such skills also help you switch from one task to another easily and make it easier to concentrate on tasks and solve problems more efficiently. “Physically, people find they have improved mood, they sleep better and better memory and concentration.” This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.

• In this review, we first briefly discuss the etiology of addiction and neurocognitive processes related to the development and maintenance of SUDs.
• Meditation can also reduce the areas of anxiety, chronic pain, depression, heart disease and high blood pressure.
• Null effects of MBIs observed in Stage II or III clinical trials might very well be qualified by extent of mindfulness practice, and thus mindfulness practice engagement should be tested as a treatment outcome moderator.
• With regard to implementation science, many studies to date have measured the effectiveness of brief MBIs due to their relative ease of dissemination.
• Despite growing pressure for expediency and increasingly brief intervention, SUDs are chronic conditions that may require prolonged interventions to produce durable change.

Another incredible example of the limitless power of meditation, especially for those who want to rid their lives of addiction. A 2006 study by University of Washington researchers (Bowen et al) examined 78 substance addicted prison inmates for three months. A 2004 study published in Molecular Psychiatry (Volkow et al) found that when an addict gets their “fix”, high amounts of the euphoric brain chemical “dopamine” flood certain brain regions like the “nucleus accumbens”.

Reduced Risk of Relapse

For example, mindfulness may reduce pain, fatigue and stress in people with chronic pain. Other studies have found preliminary evidence that mindfulness might boost the immune system and help people recover more quickly from cold or flu. Finally, it is unknown whether mindfulness might best ameliorate addiction through participation in time-limited interventions or if mindfulness should be used daily as part of a wellness addiction meditation lifestyle. With regard to the latter, shifting from an addiction-oriented lifestyle to adoption of a wellness lifestyle is conceptualized as integral to the recovery model [87]. In this vein, studies should examine mindfulness not only as a technique in circumscribed interventions to prevent addiction relapse but also examine mindfulness as a long-term, sustainable health behavior that promotes addiction recovery.

It can likewise help control stress and improve coping in those caring for family members with dementia (28, 29). A meta-analysis including nearly 1,300 adults found that meditation may decrease anxiety. Notably, this effect was strongest in those with the highest levels of anxiety (6). Meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts. A John F. Kennedy study revealed a 65% boost in the minds of participants during meditation.

Mind-body interventions to prevent addiction

Participants are then guided to adopt a metacognitive stance toward their experience and deconstruct the craving into its constituent sensory, affective, and cognitive components, noticing how the craving subsides over time. Through this technique, clients learn to consciously and adaptively respond to the urge to use substances rather than automatically reacting to appetitive cues in maladaptive ways. Such tailoring is presumed necessary for maximizing clinical effects of MBIs as treatments for addiction, though no quantitative comparisons of tailored (e.g., MBRP) versus general (e.g., MBSR) MBIs have been conducted for individuals with substance use disorders. Comparative effectiveness research or dismantling trials are needed to determine whether such addiction-specific tailoring increases effect sizes. These findings supporting of the restructuring reward hypothesis were paralleled by preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence of the effects of MORE on nicotine dependent smokers. In a pilot study of MORE as a smoking cessation intervention [34], smokers viewed cigarette images during a cue-reactivity task, and then in a separate positive emotion regulation task, either viewed or savored images representing natural rewards.

• First-generation MBIs (ie, MBSR, MBCT) influenced the development of contemporary MBIs for addiction (ie, MBRP, MORE).
• According to the Addiction Policy Reform (APF) Survey, 1 in 3 report changes in treatment or recovery support services due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• However, the results of these studies are difficult to interpret, and the practical implications are not clear.
• Meditation allows patients to develop healthy coping mechanisms for handling stress and stressful situations in their daily lives.

Studies on the effectiveness of school-based mindfulness programs have had small sample sizes and been of varying quality. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers. For example, one review of 38 studies concluded that mindfulness meditation could reduce pain, improve quality of life, and decrease symptoms of depression in people with chronic pain (40).

Therapeutic mechanisms of mindfulness as a treatment for addiction

This can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep and increase sleep quality. Meditation develops mental awareness and can help you manage triggers for unwanted impulses. This can help you recover from addiction, manage unhealthy eating, and redirect other unwanted habits.