Content uploaded by Pradeep Kumar
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Pradeep Kumar on Oct 26, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
INTRODUCTION
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a
program that incorporates mindfulness to assist people
with pain and a range of conditions and life issues that
were initially difficult to treat in a hospital setting
(Pickert, 2014). It was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in
1970s at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center,
it is anamalgamation of mindfulness meditation, body
awareness, and yoga to help people become more
mindful. The recent years have seen meditation as the
subject of controlled clinical research suggesting that it
may have beneficial effects such as stressreduction,
relaxation and improvements in quality of life however
it does not help to prevent or cure disease.
The recent years have seen an increasing interest of
clinicians and researchers in the application of
meditation approaches in the management of physical
illness and psychiatric disorders therefore mindfulness
and interventions based on it have become the focus of
considerable attention. Meditation can be categorized as
concentration meditation and awareness meditation
also known as mindfulness meditation. Concentration
meditation includes Transcendental meditation which is
the most studied form of meditation. In this kind of
meditation practice an individual is asked to focus on a
single object such as breath, a mantra or visual image
(Kabat-Zinn, 1982; Baer, 2003). Any other thing apart
from this is categorized as distraction and attention
should be brought back to the single object (Baer, 2003).
However, unlike transcendental meditation, awareness
meditation or mindfulness meditation does not
consider anything to be a distraction. The individual
focuses the mind on breath and observes how attention
wanders from the focal point. It encourages
nonjudgmental observation. If any judgmental thought
arises the mindfulness principles state just observing it
(Kabat-Zinn, 1982). All the thoughts are treated with
equal importance and never ignored. Both these ways
may look similar however, mindfulness meditation
practice is less restrictive than concentrative meditation
as it includes all of one's experience.
Visual Disability
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) : A
Brief Overview
1 2
Aishwarya Raj & Pradeep Kumar
1 2
Clinical Psychologist, AIIMS, New Delhi, Consultant, Psychiatric Social Work, State Institute of Mental Health, PD,
B. D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana
ABSTRACT
Mindfulness has surged popularity over decades and its applicability has been seen across a wide range of physical
illness as well as psychiatric disorders specially anxiety and depression. The basic principle behind mindfulness
practice is that it helps the individual alter their relationship with traumatic or painful thoughts and emotions.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a form of practice and training for individuals with psychological and
emotional due to life events, physical conditions, physical pain and reduce stress and anxiety symptoms, negative
feelings improve general mental health and functioning. It has been seen to be beneficial in promoting recovery
beyond the acute treatment of a disorder. It can be used to promote wellbeing amongst participants.This review aims
to define meditation and mindfulness and provide an overview of development of MBSR across psychiatric disorders
and integrates researches across them and also to elucidate specific ways MBSR may be helpful and avenues for
future research.
Keywords: Meditation, Mindfulness, Stress Reduction, Efficacy, Mental Health
A Brief Overview
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
73
1
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
74
The origin of Mindfulness-based interventions can be
traced back to India's most ancient meditative technique
- Vipassana. Vipassana being a Pali word is formed of
two words- Vi, which means 'special', and passana,
which means, 'to see, to observe' together meaning to
see or observe in a special way. It is a form of self –
awareness training adopted from the ancient Buddhist
meditation. It is also known as insight meditation and is
an ancient practice originally driven from Theravada
Buddhism (Gunaratana, 2002). Often called as “the
heart” of Buddhist meditation (Thera, 1962), it has been
prevalent in India since it was discovered by Gautama
Buddha at the time of his Supreme Enlightenment at
Gaya, Bihar (Ahir, 1999).
In the earliest teachings Buddha detailed the practice's
instructions for mindfulness as: the Anapanasati Sutra
(Rosenberg, 1998) and the Satipatthana Sutra (Smith,
1999).
The concept behind this practice is the Buddhist notion
that all psychological suffering is a result of a
judgmental mind, categorizing experiences and events
into good and bad which could have been accordingly
approached leading to distress, anxiety, frustration and
depression (Nyklíèek & Kuijpers, 2008).
It is a skill and like learning any skill requires a good
amount of practice, mindfulness requires daily practice
to develop a mindful mental orientation towards daily
events leading to an enhanced mental flexibility and a
clarity in one's life to make them skilled to face life's
challenges. (Davis, Fleming, Bonus& Baker, 2007)
Mindfulness has been described as a process of
experiencing every moment of life without becoming
judgemental. In this practice a person intentionally pays
full attention to events around them without judgment
and is required to remain psychologically present 'with'
whatever happens in and around one, without reacting
to it in any way. In this way the practice of mindfulness
meditation enables the person to respond consciously
and reflectively, rather than react automatically to
internal or external events.
In modern psychology mindfulness interventions have
been adopted for responding with a skillful increased
awareness to mental processes that contribute to
emotional distress and maladaptive behavior.
Meditation is considered to be one of the three self-
regulatory strategies that are effective in the
management of anxiety.
(II) Practice of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR):
Kabat-Zinn (1982) developed the Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which is a clinical
program to facilitate adaptation to medical illness.
MBSR consists of eight to ten weekly sessions and
follows a skill-based, educational format. It includes
formal and informal meditation practice, as well as
hatha yoga. The formal practice includes breath-focused
attention, body scan resulting inattention to the
transient nature of sensory experience, shifting attention
in sensory modalities, open monitoring of moment-to-
moment experiences, walking meditation, and eating
meditation. The informal practice includes brief pauses
involving shifting of attention to present moment
awareness. Together both these practices aim to enhance
the ability to observe the content of experience
specifically the transient nature of thoughts, emotion
and physical sensations. There are two specific forms of
non-conceptual and non-elaborative meditation
practices that are introduced in MBSR:
(a) object-based focused attention i.e. sensations
induced during breathing, selective attention in the
present moment with knowledge of quality of
attention, and
(b) open monitoring i.e. using attention as a basic
observation or monitoring of the present moment in
any experience such as thought, emotion or physical
sensation without any explicit focus on an object
However, there are no explicit instructions about how to
change nature of thinking, or how to handle emotional
reactivity, MBSR still has been shown how to diminish
the habitual tendency to react emotionally and to
ruminate about transitory thoughts and physical
sensations and discomforts; reduce stress and anxiety;
Raj & Kumar
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
75
modify maladaptive patterns of self-view); strengthen
immune functioning; encourage behavioral self-
regulation; and improve selective attention.
(III) MBSR and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
(MBCT)
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a
manualized intervention that combines elements of
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy along with Mindfulness
Based Stress Reduction into an 8-session treatment plan
to enable patients to learn skills that prevent the
recurrence of depression.
MBSR has been an inspiration for Mindfulness-Based
Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Initially this intervention
was designed for relapse prevention in people with
recurrent depression. However, it has been applied to
various psychiatric conditions in contemporary
psychological interventions. It educates people to learn
to become more aware of their bodily sensations,
thoughts, and feelings associated with recurrence or
depressive relapse and to associate constructively to
these experiences. The treatment plan focuses on
promoting patients to adopt a novel way of being and
associating to their thoughts and feelings, while placing
little or no emphasis on challenging or altering specific
cognitions.
(IV)Mechanism Behinds Mindfulness interventions
For understanding mechanism of any technique its
basics should be known. Similarly, for mindfulness
based Stress Reduction are its ABCs where 'A' stands for
Awareness which works as the foundation emphasizes
on cultivating body awareness. Body scan is usually
taught in the first phase where one has to pay close
attention systematically to all parts of the body. Within a
few moments it can be seen that the mind gets caught up
in something else. In this the basic instruction usually is
to notice when the mind wanders and to understand the
habitual patterns of the mind. In this way the mind also
learns to step out of being away away by distractions. 'B'
stands for being with the experience. After building on
the foundation of awareness and noting the mind going
off and returning back the next step is to learn adapting
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
to difficult experiences with an attitude of acceptance.
'C' stands for making wise choices. After developing an
attitude of acceptance with persistent painful
experiences one can easily learn to make a wise choice
about how to address those experiences. Addressing
difficult thought and emotions is an essential aspect of
Mindfulness based interventions. Whenever one faces
difficult experiences the first reaction is to escape from
them or avoid them for ie. Using substances to escape
from situations or getting over involved in the
experiences forie. Depressive ruminations such as 'What
is wrong with me?' Mindfulness based stress reduction
helps by making an individual face those unwanted
experiences and avoiding dual responses of 'escaping' or
'over-involvement'.
(V) Uses and Benefits of MBSR:
The life style of present society as well as modern society
usually becomes hectic, busy and stressful. Therefore,
the Practice of MBSR becomes need of hour. The Benefits
of MBSR include: Improved quality of life, reduced
tension, fear, frustration, better coping with life
stressors, improved sleep, and reduced risk of relapse of
depression. These benefits can be grouped under
following headings:-
(a) Attentional control and managing rumination:
MBSR helps in retarding the cycle of ruminations by
helping the participant indulge in thought
regulation which is simply observing emotions in a
reflective way rather than reactive way hereby
enhancing attentional control of participants. In a
regression analysis, authors found a significant
association between the amount of individual MBM
practice and decreased levels of rumination
(Praissman, 2008).
(b) Mood clarity: As stated above regular practice of
MBSR encourages patients to reflect on their
emotions, in this way it also alters metacognitive
processes. As it is known metacognitive adaptation
is a pre-requisite of self-regulation it thereby
enhances emotional intelligence as well.
(c) Cognitive change: MBSR principles point that our
thoughts are transient, short lived and not a true
reflection of reality. The MBSR program teaches the
participants that just because one has a particular
thought doesn't hold the thought true such as “I am
exhausted all the time”. Participants practicing
MBSR develop non-judgmental acceptance of
negative thoughts.
(d) Exposure: Kabat-Zinn (2003) stated that motivating
participants to pay attention to discomfort and pain
sensations in body to may lead to desensitization. As
'body scan'- a prime technique of MBSR, promotes
awareness and acknowledgement of bodily
sensation to equip participants with a reflective style
of coping. Therefore, in this way MBSR works as a
form of exposure therapy thereby teaching
participants to accept negative stimuli without
hyper-emotional response and improving
tolerability of the discomfort.
(e) Control: Sitting meditation is a technique that is
used to promote control in the participant. In this the
participant remains in one position for a period of
time and resists the urge to alter the posture. This
instills in the participant a sense of physical control
on their symptoms.
The amalgamation of Hatha Yoga into MBSR has
also proven to be effective in giving participants a
greater authority over their bodies, in this way it
serves to challenge irrational thoughts and
maladaptive schemas in patients with significant
distress due to somatic disorders (Hamilton,
Kitzman & Guyotte, 2006).
(f) Acceptance: Participants undergoing mindfulness
practice are motivated to adopt an enduring attitude
to accept maladaptive thoughts, pain, presence of an
illness and disability in a reflective rather than a
reactive manner. This way allows participants to
focus on their abilities and not disabilities. It also
empowers the participants to reflect on transient
nature of health and become aware of anxieties
associated to morbidity and mortality. (Hamilton,
Kitzman & Guyotte, 2006).
(e) Relaxation: Relaxation effect of hatha yoga is
reported to reduce muscle tension and has been seen
to help individuals with chronic pain. A lot of
studies have also reported the clear benefit of yoga
for rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions
(Garfinkel et al., 1994; Greendale et al., 2002).
(VI) Research evidence and efficacy of MBSR: The
recent time have seen a shift in the interest of researchers
from efficacy based research to process based research in
the area of mindfulness. Researches have suggested that
mindfulness cultivated during MBSR and MBCT leads
to a decrease in ruminative thinking by switching
emotional processing modes by intentional
redeployment of attention, dysfunctional beliefs, and
significantly increases meta-cognitive awareness with
respect to negative thoughts and feelings.A plethora of
qualitative studies have identified areas of therapeutic
change such as an attitude of acceptance without
judgment, development of mindfulness skills and
'living in the moment', awareness and 'coming to terms'
with situations and events. It has been observed that
there was a positive change in levels of acceptance and
changes in participant's way of perceiving and feeling,
and in their relation with the others. Mindfulness has
been seen to be positively associated with greater
psychological well-being and spiritual experience. The
various researches have pointed out to five major themes
namely opening to change, self-control, shared
experience, personal growth, and spirituality.
It is known that psychiatric disorders particularly
psychosomatic disorders are an interplay of mind and
body where biological, psychological, sociocultural
factors play important role. Hereditary, environment,
upbringing and personal interpretations of events, as
well as the coping capacity for the events that arise as the
person develops, interacts and plays an important role
when confronted with a psychosomatic manifestation.
When a person undergoes a stressful event there is an
appraisal of the stressor as innocuous, a danger, or a
challenge. This appraisal then results in a perception
that is often highly individualistic and influenced by
gender. A lot of other variables such as socioeconomic
status or ethnicity also influence the way in which
1
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
76
Raj & Kumar
people perceive and experience relationships, formulate
their morals, and construct a sense of self. A number of
intervention methods have been examined in India and
abroad in treating the psychiatric disorders.
Meditation techniques have been seen to reduce alcohol
consumption and have resulted in increased physical
activities. Hypnosis and modern hypnotherapy,
classical hypnotherapy, stress management and
relaxation interventions, biofeedback, yoga and other
alternative therapy, nutritional and diet supplements
etc. are showing effective in treating psychosomatic
disorder. In contemporary scenario mindfulness
meditations such as Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Based Cognitive
Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment
Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy have been
found effective in a wide range of disorders. These
interventions have been applied to a wide range of
stress related conditions, physical conditions, and
emotional disorders and have been found to be
efficacious. More than 200 medical centers across the
world offer MBSR as an auxiliary treatment option to
patients (Niazi&Niazi, 2011). They concluded that
MBSR practice leads to a reduction in stress, anxiety and
depression.
MBSR helps the people in adapting to the daily
treatment needs and managing the psychosocial issues
associated with chronic illness that is challenging and
stressful for patients. It has been observed that research
on mindfulness in India is in its initial stage and there is
only limited work examining the efficacy of this therapy
(Sharma, 2002). Therefore, further research should be
conducted on larger Indian samples and follow-up
studies should be taken to establish the efficacy of these
interventions. Let us take a look at few studies:
(a) Mood and Anxiety Disorders
A major part of research in MBSR has its focus on anxiety
and mood disorders. In a meta-analysis conducted by
Hofmann et al. (2010) to assess the effect size of
Mindfulness Based Therapies in reducing depressive
and anxiety symptoms in patients with psychiatric and
medical conditions it was observed that MBT had
moderate effect on reducing depressive and anxiety
symptoms across all patient groups. However, it proved
to be more efficacious in reducing depressive and
anxiety symptoms in patients with depression and
anxiety. Chiesa and Serretti (2011) conducted a study to
assess the effectiveness of MBCT in psychiatric
disorders. They concluded that MBCT plus treatment as
usual (TAU) was significantly better than alone TAU in
prevention of relapses amongst patients with major
depressive disorder having at least three relapses in the
past. It improved symptomatology and quality of life
outcomes in patients with major depressive disorder.
Their finding also concluded that MBCT along with
gradual discontinuation of antidepressants was not
significantly different in terms of relapse rate at one year
as compared with continuation of maintenance
antidepressants. This finding was supported by a
subsequent study conducted by Kukyen et al. (2010)
which found that in depressive patients MBCT offers
protection against relapse equal to that of maintenance
antidepressants.
Piet and Hougaard et al. (2010) in their recent meta-
analysis of six randomized controlled trials to assess the
effectiveness of MBCT in prevention of relapse in
recurrent major depressive disorder had similar
findings as that of Chiesa and Serreti (2011) that is MBCT
proves to be effective intervention for relapse prevention
in patients with recurrent major depression in remission
having three or more previous episodes. It is noteworthy
that while the while the evidence suggests that MBCT is
effective for reducing depressive relapses among
remitted depressed patients with a history of three or
more depressive episodes, it is not effective among
patients with two previous episodes, suggesting that
these groups actually represent two distinct populations
of patients.
Studies on individuals with Generalized anxiety
disorder have found MBT improves anxiety and
depressive symptoms in this group; however, there were
significant differences in the rate of recovery between
these studies (Craigie et al.,2008)). In another
randomized trial conducted by Koszycki et al. (2007) to
see how well MBSR is compared to Cognitive Behavior
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
77
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Group Therapy (CBGT) for individuals with social
anxiety disorder found that that while MBSR was
comparable to CBGT in improving mood, functionality
and quality of life, it was not as effective as CBGT in
reducing core symptoms of social anxiety and response
and remission rates.
Miklowitz and Williams et al. (2009), found decreased
depression and anxiety symptoms in remitted patients
with bipolar disorder following MBCT. However, Weber
et al., (2010) applied MBCT in remitted patients with
bipolar disorder and found that overall, there were no
significant improvements in mindfulness, depression
and hypomania between the beginning and end of the
MBCT programme.
Deckerbach et al. (2011) in their study noted that non-
remitted bipolar patients who received MBCT had
residual depressive mood symptom, improved
mindfulness and adaptive psycho social functioning at
the end of treatment, as well as at three-month follow-
up.
It has been seen that MBSR improves the quality of life
and reduces anxiety, depression and stress symptoms in
younger cardiac patients(Parswani,2013). The
effectiveness of brief mindfulness technique such as
sitting meditation, body scan and hatha yoga has been
seen on systolic blood pressure among Chinese nursing
students (Chen et al., 2012). Its effectiveness was also
examined in reduction of the symptoms of anxiety and
stress among female undergraduate students(Call et al.,
2013). It was found to be effective in reducing anxiety
and stress as body scan exercise involves progressively
moving one's attention through the entire body along
with nonjudgmental awareness of feeling and sensation
in each part of the body.
This intervention has also shown significant
improvements in attention problems, behavioral
problems and anxiety symptoms were also seen among
children age range from 9 to 13 years (Semple et al.,
2009). These results were maintained during the course
of follow-up.
Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been
found to be effective in generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) as patients reported a significant decrease in their
anxiety, tension, worry and depressive symptoms
(Roemer &Orsillo, 2007).
MBCT has also been found to reduce depression and
anxiety during a natural anticipated stressor such as
exam period in a non-clinical sample of university
students (Kaviani, 2011).
It has also been shown to help the elderly adapt to age-
related physical and psychological changes. Its regular
practice has been reported to ameliorate stress by
providing an individual with a strong sense of self,
enhancing resilience(Davis et al., 2007).
A significant improvement and difference was noted in
the symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder and
panic disorder using Mindfulness Integrated Cognitive
Therapy (MICT)as highlighted by Kaur and Sharma
(2016).Follow- up sessions have shown stable and
continued improvement after treatment. Integrated
cognitive behavior therapy has also been used with
detached mindfulness and family-based treatment in a
case of adolescent Obsessive Compulsive Therapy with
predominantly obsessions. MBCT has been found to be
effective in reducing the severity of symptoms in
obsessive-compulsive symptoms including obsessions
and thought-action-fusion also improving mindfulness
skills and quality of life in adolescents with OCD
(Rukmini et al., 2016).
(c) Pain
Since the 1970s MBSR has been seen to manage chronic
pain as highlighted by Kabat-Zinn (2003).A study in
Manitoba conducted by Carlson et al. (2003) has shown
that MBSR in primary care setting with chronic pain
patients has shown a decline in intensity of pain,
psychological distress, disability, willingness in life
activities, acceptance of pain and subjective rating of
current pain. A few other studies conducted by the
founder of MBSR in patients with chronic pain (Kabat-
Zinn, et al., 1982, 1985, 1987). The results suggested some
relief in pain however self - reported pain did increase
following completion of MBSR in some cases but did not
1
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
78
Raj & Kumar
changes were observed only in the experimental group
of study whereas control group showed no significant
change. Thus, the result clearly implies that MBSR
effectively reduced depression, anxiety, perceived stress
in CHD patients.
Few pilot studies have used mindfulness meditation
as the integral therapeutic component in management
of CHD and results of these studies are very
encouraging and highlight the role of MBSR practice
(Nehra,2012). Research on the evaluation of specific
effects of MBSR program in patients with CHD is in an
initial stage further studies are required in this domain.
(Nehra,2012)
Nowadays interest in clinical application of mindfulness
has increased by the presence of a manualized treatment
program originally developed for the management of
chronic pain i.e. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR). Studies have shown that majority of
participants who have undergone mindfulness-based
treatment practice have shown significant reductions in
both psychological and physical symptoms (Kabat-
Zinn,1982).
Neuroimaging studies of MBSR have also provided
sufficient evidence of reduced narrative and conceptual
and increased experiential and sensory self-focus at
post-MBSR and decreased conceptuallinguistic self-
referential processing from pre- to post-MBSR
(Farb,2007).
CONCLUSION
Mindfulness is bringing attention to one's experience of
the present moment without judgment or attachment to
outcomes. It encourages individuals to make changes in
their association with their thoughts, feelings and bodily
responses. These interventions help the individuals to
skillfully adapt to unpleasant thoughts, feelings,
situations and events. The skillful change acquired helps
the individual bring a meaningful change to the whole
Scenario. Though there is considerable evidence for the
efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in variety
medical and psychological conditions however there is
still a long way to go. The above findings highlight the
return to pre interventional levels. A significant decrease
in psychological distress was also reported and also the
benefit was maintained over an extensive follow up
period of 4 years. Zatura et al. (2001), carried out a study
of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who participated
in MBSR programme and achieved the understanding of
one's mood and emotions had better clinical
outcomes.Another study in fibromyalgia patients by
Kaplan et al 1993 also reported that there was a
significant reduction (39%) in psychological distress
however lack of control group in the study points to
methodological limitations (Bishop, 2002).
(d) Cancer
Huang et al 2003 conducted a study where patients
suffering with early breast and prostate cancer
participated in MBSR which resulted in increased
quality of life and decreased experiences of stress. It was
also noted by Carlson et al that participation in MBSR
positively affected the immune system of cancer
resulting in a decrease in disease related cytokine
production. Another study by Khoury et al. (2015), a
meta-analysis has shown significant improvements in
depression, confidence, stress and anxiety in breast
cancer patients. The role of this practice has also been
seen to reduce the pain as well as increase quality of life
and mental health in terminal cancer patients (Tsang et
al., 2012).
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction has been
supported across several and clinical populations such
as depression, relapsing depression, cancer, anxiety
disorders, anxiety, worry and rumination, psoriasis,
chronic pain, eating disorders, smoking, and attention-
deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
infected adults, fibromyalgia.
(e) Coronary Heart Disease
In a study conducted by Nehra et al. in 2012, it was
observed that Depression, Anxiety and Perceived Stress
are prevalent in patients suffering from Coronary Heart
Disease in the patient's pre intervention level and
reduced significantly post intervention level. These
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
79
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
11. Garfinkel, M.S., Schumacher, H.R., Husain, A., Levey, M.,
& Reshetar, R.A. (1994). Evaluation of a yoga based
regimen for treatment of osteoarthritis. Journal of
Rheumatology, 21, 2341-2345.
12. Greendale, G.A., McDivit, A., Garpenter, A., Seeger, L, &
Huang, M.H. (2002). Yoga for women with hyper-
kyphosis: Results of a pilot study. American Journal of
Public Health, 1611-1614.
13. Gunaratana, H. (2002). Mindfulness in plain English.
Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
14. Hamilton, N.A., Kitzman, M.A., & Guyotte, M.A.(2006).
Enhancing health and emotion: mindfulness as missing
link between cognitive therapy and positive psychology.
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International
Quarterly, 20, 123-136.
15. Hofmann, S.G., Sawyer, A.T., Witt, A.A, (2010). The effect
of mindfulness based therapy on anxiety and depression -
A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 78(2),169-83.
16. Huang, H.P, He, M., Wang, H.Y., Zhou, M. (2015). A meta-
analysis of the benefits of mindfulness based stress
reduction (MBSR) on psychological function among
breast cancer (BC) survivors. Breast Cancer, 23(4),568-576.
[Internet]. 2015;(12). Available from: http://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25820148
17. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982). An outpatient program in
behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the
practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical
considerations and preliminary results. General Hospital
Psychiatry, 4(1), 33–47.
18. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in
context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology and
Science Practice. 10(2),144–56.)
19. Kaviani, H., Javaheri, F.,&Hatami, N. (2011). Mindfulness-
based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) reduces depression and
anxiety induced by real stressful setting in nonclinical
population. International Journal of Psychology and
Psychological Therapy, 11, 285–296.
20. Khoury, B., Sharma, M., Rush, S.E., Fournier, C.(2015).
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Healthy
Individuals: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic
Research [Internet]. 2015;78(6),3–12. Available from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002239
991500080X)
21. Koszycki, D., Benger, D., &Shlik, J., (2007). Randomized
trial of a meditation-based stress reduction program and
cognitive behavior therapy in generalized social anxiety
need for further research especially randomized control
trials needed in order to determine a causal relation
between MBSR interventions and psychiatric disorders.
Mindfulness practice in everyday life appears to benefit
all those that practice it.
REFERENCES
1. Ahir, D.C. (1999). Vipassana: A Universal Buddhist
Meditation Technique. Sri Satguru Publication. Delhi.
2. Baer, R.A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical
intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical
Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 125–143.
3. Carlson, L.E. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress,
and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer
Outpatients. Psychosomatic Medicine. 65(4),571–81).
4. Call, D., Miron, L.,& Orcutt, O.(2013). Effectiveness of
Brief Mindfulness Techniques in Reducing Symptoms of
Anxiety and Stress. Mindfulness, 5(6),658-568. DOI
10.1007/s12671-013-0218-6.
5. Chen, C. H., Suckling, J., Cinly, F., Cynthia, H., Williams,
Steve. C., Walsh, N. D., Mitterschiffthaler, M. T., Pich, E.
M., & Bullmore, E. D.(2008). Functional Coupling of the
Amygdala in Depressed Patients Treated with
Antidepressant Medication. Neuropsychopharmacology,
33(8), 1909-1918.
6. Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2011). Mindfulness based
cognitive therapy for psychiatric disorders: A systematic
review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 187, 441-53.
7. Craigie, M.A., Rees, C.S., Marsh, A., (2008). Mindfulness-
based cognitive therapy for generalized anxiety disorder:
A preliminary evaluation. Behavioural and Cognitive
Psychotherapy, 36,553-68.
8. Davis, J.M., Fleming, M.F., Bonus, K.A., & Baker, T.B.
(2007). A pilot study on mindfulness based stress
reduction for smokers. BMC Complementry and Alternative
Medicine. 7 (2), 212-217.
9. Deckersbach, T., Holzel, B.K., & Eisner, L.R., (2011).
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for nonremitted
patients with bipolar disorder. CNS Neuroscience
Therapeutics, 18(2),133-41.
10. Farb, N.A., Segal, Z.V., Mayberg, H., Bean, J., McKeon, D.,
Fatima, Z., &Anderson, A.K. (2007). Attending to the
present: Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural
modes of self-reference. Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience, 2:313–322.
1
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
80
Raj & Kumar
Journal of Disability Management and Rehabilitation 4(1), 2018
81
disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2518-2526.
22. Kuyken, W., Watkins, E., &Holden, E., (2010). How does
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy work? Behaviour
Research and Therapy, 48, 1105-12
23. Miklowitz, D., Alatiq, Y., Goodwin, G.M., (2009). A pilot
study of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for bipolar
disorder. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 2, 373-82.
24. Niazi, A.K., & Niazi, S.K. (2011). Mindfulness-based stress
reduction: a non-pharmacological approach for chronic
illnesses. North American Journal of Medical Sciences, 3(1),
20-23.
25. Nehra, D.K., Nehra, S. & Dogra, R. (2012). Positive
Psychological Functioning with Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction (MBSR) Program. In Yadava A, Hooda D, Sharma
NR: Biopsychosocial Issues in Positive Health. Global Vision
Publishing House, Delhi.
26. Nehra, D.K., Sharma, N.R., Kumar, P. & Nehra, S. (2012).
Efficacy of MBSR program in treating Depression, Anxiety
and Perceived Stress in Coronary Heart Disease Patients.
Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(1), 91-95.
27. Nyklíèek, I. & Kuijpers, K.F. (2008). Effects of Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction Intervention on Psychological
Well-being and Quality of Life: Is Increased Mindfulness
Indeed the Mechanism? Annals Behavioral Medicine, 35(3),
331–340.
28. Parswani, M. J., Sharma, M. P., & Iyengar, S. (2013).
Mindfulness-based stress reduction program in coronary
heart disease: A randomized control trial. International
Journal of Yoga, 6(2), 111–117. http://doi.org/10.4103/0973-
6131.113405
29. Praissman, S. (2008). Mindfulness-based stress reduction:
a literature review and clinician's guide. Journal of
theAmerican Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 20, 212–216.
30. Piet, J., Hougaard, E., &Hecksher, M.S. (2010). A
randomized pilot study of mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy and group cognitive-behavioral therapy for
young adults with social phobia. Scandinavian Journal of
Psychology, 51,403-10.
31. Roemer, L., &Orsillo, S. M. (2007). An open trial of an
acceptance based behavior therapy for generalized
anxiety disorder. BehaviorTherapy, 38, 72–85.
32. Rosenberg, L. (1998). Breath by breath: The liberating
practice of insight liberation (with D. Guy). Boston, MA:
Shambhala.
33. Rukmini, S., Sudhir,P.M., & Janardan, Reddy, Y.(2016).
Integrating cognitive behavior therapy with detached
mindfulness and family-based treatment in a case of adolescent
OCD with predominantly obsessions. International
conference on Contemporary Trends in Clinical
Psychology: Book of Abstract, Bangalore: National
Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, 91.
34. Semple, R. J., Lee, J., Rosa, D., & Miller, L. F. (2009). A
Randomized Trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive
Therapy for Children: Promoting Mindful Attention to
Enhance Social-Emotional Resiliency in Children. Journal
of Child and Family Studies,19(2),218- 29.
35. Sharma, M. P. (2002). Vipassna Meditation: The Art and
Science of mindfulness, In J. P. Balodhi (Ed.), Application of
Oriental Philosophical Thoughts in Mental Health (pp. 69-
74). Bangalore: NIMHANS.
36. Smith, J. (1999). Radiant mind: Essential Buddhist teachings
and texts. New York: Riverhead Books.
37. Tsang, S.C.H., Mok, E.S.B., Lam, S.C., & Lee, J.K.L. (2012).
The benefit of mindfulness-based stress reduction to
patients with terminal cancer. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
12, 2690–2696.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04111.x.
38. Thera, N. (1962). The heart of Buddhist meditation. New
York: Weiser.
39. Weber, B., Jermann, F., Gex-Fabry, M., Nallet, A., Bondolfi,
G., Aubry, J.M. (2010). Mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy for bipolar disorder: A feasibility trial. European
Psychiatry, 25, 334–337. 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.03.007
[PubMed] [Cross Ref]
40. Williams, J.M.G., Alatiq, Y., Crane, C. (2008). Mindfulness-
based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in bipolar disorder:
Preliminary evaluation of immediate effects on between-
episode functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders, 107:
275-9.
Corresponding Author: Ms Aishwarya Raj, Clinical
Psychologist, AIIMS, New Delhi. Email: aish24raj@
gmail.com
How to cite this article: Raj, A., & Kumar, P. (2018).
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR): A Brief Overview. Journal of Disability
Management and Rehabilitation, 4(1), 73-81.
Access the article online:
http://www.jdmronline.org/index.php/jdmr/article/view/42
Quick Response Code
Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
