Mindfulness Can Tackle Anxiety, Say Researchers

Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, they propose that different kinds of mindfulness practices might be helpful for different varieties of anxiety. The proposed framework should ultimately help us understand how to match anxiety sufferers with more precise treatments

New Delhi: Mindfulness can combat anxiety by improving a mental process called cognitive control, according to a new research.

Paying close attention to the present moment without judgment — the basic idea behind all mindfulness techniques — can help calm anxiety and improve focus, said Resh Gupta, a postdoctoral research associate with the Mindfulness Science and Practice research cluster at Washington University in St. Louis in the US. “A lot of research has shown that mindfulness can reduce anxiety symptoms,” she added.

“We all experience anxiety, but it can manifest in many different ways. It’s a tough problem to pin down,” she added in a paper published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.

Gupta and co-authors laid out a new approach to understanding the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, they propose that different kinds of mindfulness practices might be helpful for different varieties of anxiety. The proposed framework should ultimately help us understand how to match anxiety sufferers with more precise treatments. Todd Braver, a professor of psychological and brain sciences and a co-author of the paper said there is a growing recognition that these practices can be incredibly useful in enhancing psychological well-being. “But we still do not fully understand the mechanisms of action by which mindfulness can produce beneficial effects. That’s where the scientific research can be so valuable, by helping us more precisely identify why and how certain practices are effective,” Braver noted.