Meditation-Based Therapy Improves Anxiety, Depression, Pain Severity

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A systematic review of 10 studies demonstrated meditation-based therapy led to significant improvements in a variety of health outcomes, including anxiety, depression and pain severity, among a group of patients with persistent peripheral neuropathy. The practice also increased mindfulness levels.

Although results showed some risk of bias and heterogeneity in the findings, general trends were positive and indicated meditation-based interventions could effectively alleviate symptoms related to mental health and pain management.

Recent studies have evaluated complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment and management of neurological disorders, such as peripheral neuropathy and multiple sclerosis. Meditation-based therapies, including mindfulness meditation, yoga, Qigong and Tai Chi, are a popular choice among patients. These practices focus on developing mental awareness, relaxation and emotional balance.

“They have shown potential in treating several types of chronic pain by modifying pain perception, lowering stress and improving general well-being,” wrote a team of investigators led by Cristian Babos, MD, MMSc, associated with the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. “It seems these effects are mediated through various neurobiological and psychological mechanisms, including changes in brain structure and function, neurotransmitter modulation and neuroplasticity.”

Mindfulness, defined as being aware of one’s thoughts, bodily sensations, feelings and surroundings in the present moment, has also been linked to pain processing in key regions of the brain such as the anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex and insula.

The current review initially identified 1133 randomized controlled trials from a search of seven article databases, of which 10 were ultimately selected for assessment. A meta-analysis evaluated the benefits of meditation on anxiety, depression, perceived stress levels, sleep quality, quality of life, symptomatology and mindfulness.

Patients receiving the meditation intervention had lower pain severity scores, better sleep quality scores, lower anxiety and depression scores and lower perceived stress scores compared with the control group. These patients also demonstrated higher quality of life and mindfulness scores. During a follow-up period of between 1 and 1.5 months, pain scores remained significantly lower in patients in the meditation group across all 10 studies.

To help patients take a more active role in their pain management, investigators suggested providers encourage shorter, daily meditation practice.

They also noted the adoption of a meditation practice may lower the dependence on medications, particularly regarding opioids and other analgesics, which could result in the enhancement of patient outcomes and simultaneous reduction of side effects. However, future studies investigating the best ways to administer this type of treatment and its benefit in combination with other therapies are necessary.

Despite statistically significant heterogeneity, including the age of patients and the type of intervention program, results predominantly pointed towards improved symptoms in those who practiced meditation-based therapy.

A risk of bias was shown regarding outcome measurements, randomization processes and the selection of the reported result. Essentially, as most participants were aware of the intervention and their self-reported outcomes were subjective, patients may have said the meditation-based therapy was better or worse than it was, depending on their predisposed views of and trust in meditation as an alternative or complementary approach to pain management.

“Meditation-based therapies could be integrated into existing treatment protocols as a complementary approach, particularly for addressing pain, anxiety, and depression in chronic neuropathy patients,” noted investigators. “These programs can be incorporated into multidisciplinary care regimens, giving patients useful tools to control their symptoms in addition to conventional treatments.