Positive Psychological States in the Arc from Mindfulness to Self-Transcendence: Extensions of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory and Applications to Addiction and Chronic Pain Treatment
E. Garland, Barbara L. Fredrickson
Current Opinion in Psychology January 14, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.01.004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | mindfulness-based interventions |
| Topics | Addiction Meditation |
| Citations | 131 |
| Key findings | Inducing self-transcendent positive emotions and nondual states through mindfulness-based interventions may restructure reward processing and produce therapeutic effects on addictive behavior and chronic pain syndromes. |
Abstract
The Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (MMT) is a temporally-dynamic process model of mindful positive emotion regulation that elucidates downstream cognitive-affective mechanisms by which mindfulness promotes health and resilience. Here we review and extend the MMT to explicate how mindfulness fosters self-transcendence by evoking upward spirals of decentering, attentional broadening, reappraisal, and savoring. Savoring is highlighted as a key means of inducing absorptive experiences of oneness between subject and object, amplifying the salience of the object while imbuing sensory-perceptual field with affective meaning. Finally, this article provides new evidence that inducing self-transcendent positive emotions and nondual states of awareness through mindfulness-based interventions may restructure reward processing and thereby produce therapeutic effects on addictive behavior (e.g., opioid misuse) and chronic pain syndromes.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Mindfulness meditation–based pain relief: a mechanistic account | 2016 | Review | |
| Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents Animal models and cellular studies | 2018 | Review | |
| A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. | 2013 | Review | |
| The neuropsychopharmacology of cannabis: A review of human imaging studies | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 51
- A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers Journal of Psychopharmacology August 25, 2020
- Prospective examination of the therapeutic role of psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal in the ceremonial use of ayahuasca Journal of Psychopharmacology March 1, 2022
- Participant Reports of Mindfulness, Posttraumatic Growth, and Social Connectedness in Psilocybin-Assisted Group Therapy: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Journal of Humanistic Psychology June 12, 2021
- Endogenous theta stimulation during meditation predicts reduced opioid dosing following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement. Neuropsychopharmacology September 12, 2020
- Mindfulness-induced endogenous theta stimulation occasions self-transcendence and inhibits addictive behavior. Science Advances October 14, 2022
and 46 more in the library
Cites 27
- The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding Complicity An International Journal of Complexity and Education July 1, 2007
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience Review of General Psychology May 1, 2017
- Mindfulness meditation–based pain relief: a mechanistic account Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences June 1, 2016
- Neural correlates of nondual awareness in meditation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2014
and 22 more in the library