The value of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of insomnia.
Joanne Martires, Michelle Zeidler
Current opinion in pulmonary medicine November 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1097/mcp.0000000000000207 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction Mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness meditation, via MBSR or MBTI, reduces sleep latency and total wake time and increases total sleep time in insomnia patients, with good acceptance and durable results. |
Abstract
Insomnia is the most common reported sleep disorder with limited treatment options including pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Pharmacotherapy can be complicated by tolerance and significant side-effects and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia providers are limited in number. This article reviews mindfulness meditation as an additional therapy for insomnia. Both mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia (MBTI) have been studied in the treatment of insomnia. Randomized controlled studies of MBSR and MBTI have shown overall reduction in sleep latency and total wake time and increase in total sleep time after mindfulness therapy using both patient reported outcome and quantitative measures of sleep. Mindfulness techniques have been shown to be well accepted by patients with long-lasting effects. A three-arm randomized study with MBSR, MBTI, and self-monitoring showed similar improvement in insomnia between the MBSR and MBTI groups, with possibly longer duration of efficacy in the MBTI group. Recent data show that MBTI is also an effective and accepted treatment for insomnia in older patients. Increasing evidence shows that mindfulness meditation, delivered either via MBSR or MBTI, can be successfully used for the treatment of insomnia with good patient acceptance and durable results.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Effect of Mindfulness Dhikr Breathing Therapy for Insomniacs on Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial Islamic Guidance and Counseling Journal June 26, 2023
- Sleep-Based Brain Age Is Reduced in Advanced Inner Engineering Meditators. Mindfulness 2025
- A pilot, randomized, placebo-controlled study of mindfulness meditation in treating insomnia in multiple sclerosis. BMC Neurology July 11, 2023
- Effect of Meditation and Breathing Exercises on the Well-being of Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection under Institutional Isolation: A Randomized Control Trial Indian Journal of Palliative Care November 26, 2021
- Written exposure therapy and app-delivered mindfulness-based meditation for PTSD and subthreshold PTSD in China: Design of a randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications June 2021
Cites 14
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- Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances JAMA Internal Medicine February 16, 2015
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Insomnia Sleep August 29, 2014
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy improves polysomnographic and subjective sleep profiles in antidepressant users with sleep complaints. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics July 20, 2012
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction versus pharmacotherapy for chronic primary insomnia: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Explore 2011
and 9 more in the library