The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Biological Acute Stress Responses in Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Psychiatry Research January 25, 2017 Elizabeth A Hoge, E. Bui, Sophie A. Palitz et al.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) lowers stress hormone and inflammatory markers more than an attention control class in adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Seventy participants with GAD were randomly assigned to MBSR or a control class. Before and after the intervention, they completed the Trier Social Stress Test. The MBSR group showed a significantly greater reduction in adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations compared to the control group. These findings provide the first combined hormonal and immunological evidence that MBSR may enhance resilience to stress in people with GAD.