A 6-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy adapted for irritable bowel syndrome (MBCT-IBS) reduced IBS symptoms and improved quality of life in female patients compared with a waitlist control. The therapy appeared to work by reducing maladaptive illness cognitions such as visceral anxiety sensitivity and pain catastrophizing, and by shifting self-referential processing toward less bias toward illness and greater nonjudgmental awareness.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may offer a useful alternative for treating health anxiety by targeting underlying mechanisms such as rumination, avoidance, hypervigilance to body sensations, and misinterpretation of those sensations. The paper describes adaptations made to the standard MBCT protocol for recurrent depression, illustrating implementation through a case example from a trial where a participant completed an 8-week MBCT course. It also discusses general participant experiences, advantages, limitations, and future research directions.