The effect of mindfulness meditation on the perceived duration of pain

Mindfulness meditation (MM) did not reduce the perceived duration of experimental pain. In a two-session experiment, participants verbally estimated the duration of painful, non-painful tactile, and neutral visual stimulations before and after a one-week MM or control intervention. Contrary to expectations, the results showed no evidence that MM alters the temporal dimension of pain. The effects of MM on pain experience do not appear to extend to how long pain is perceived to last.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Non-drug therapies for pain treatment are becoming increasingly popular. In particular, Mindfulness Meditation (MM) interventions have been found to be effective at reducing the perceived intensity of pain. However, the extent to which MM alters other elements of pain experience (e.g. perceived duration of pain) remains unclear. The current study therefore investigated the effect MM on the temporal dimension of pain by establishing whether MM could reduce its perceived duration. In a two-session experiment, participants were asked to verbally estimate the duration of a series of painful electro-cutaneous, non-painful tactile and neutral visual stimulations before and after practicing a 1-week MM (or control) intervention. Contrary to expectations, the results did not show evidence that MM is effective in reducing the perceived duration of experimental pain. The effects of MM on pain experience do not therefore appear to extend to pain’s temporal dimension.