Mindfulness Training led to Catharsis and Mindfulness-To-Meaning in a Patient with Social Anxiety Disorder Comorbid with Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia) - A Case Report with Patient's Personal Note -
Hisanobu Kaiya, Asuka Hasegawa, Chika Komatsu, Shota Noda, Fusaka Minami, Philippe R. Goldin, Yosuke Hasegawa
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A 41-year-old woman with social anxiety disorder and persistent depressive disorder |
| Intervention | Mindfulness training |
| Duration | 25 months (180 sessions) |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Key findings | The authors report that 180 mindfulness training sessions over 25 months produced complete remission of anxiety and depression symptoms in one patient, with a cathartic episode after the 30th session. They propose that this "Mindfulness-To-Meaning" experience reflects a sequence of awareness, verbalization, metacognitive appraisal, decentering, catharsis, and positive appraisal leading to durable eudaimonic well-being amid adversity. |
Abstract
Abstract Background:The use of mindfulness in the treatment of anxiety and depression is becoming more and more widespread, but there are few reports that it has fundamentally changed patients' sense of life. Case Presentation:This report showed 9 year’s progress of treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder in a 41year-old female patient experiencing a long-term painful married life with a carefree husband and controlling mother-in-law. During the past 25 months, she received 180 sessions of mindfulness training, resulting in complete remission of the anxiety and depression symptoms. After the 30th session she experienced an episode of the catharsis during the mindfulness training and experienced what can be called Mindfulness-To-Meaning, which is characterized by durable eudaimonic well-being in the face of adversity. Discussion and Conclutions:The psychological mechanisms that supported arriving at Mindfulness-To-Meaning were delineated as: Heightened (1) awareness which promoted (2) verbalization of the primary theme of suppression, in which the stress was (3) appraised metacognitively. Then (4) decentering permitted integrating this painful theme into a new adaptive self and world view, which resulted in (5) emotional catharsis, or release. Furthermore (6) positive appraisal of this experience enhanced awareness and led to the experience of (7) Mindfulness-To-Meaning .
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent Palinopsia Following Ingestion of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Patients who developed persistent palinopsia after LSD ingestion | 1996 | Case series | n = 3 |
| Cannabis‐induced Koro in Americans American men aged 22-26 with years of cannabis experience who reported negative... | 2001 | Case series | n = 3 |
| Psilocybin and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Individual with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | 2014 | Case study | n = 1 |
| LSD-Like Panic From Risperidone in Post-LSD Visual Disorder Patients with hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) | 1996 | Case study | n = 3 |
| Ketamine-Enhanced Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical Observations on its Effects in Treating Death Anxiety Terminally-ill people suffering death anxiety | 2007 | Review and case study | n = 2 |
Citations in the library
Cites 11
- Testing the mindfulness-to-meaning theory: Evidence for mindful positive emotion regulation from a reanalysis of longitudinal data. PLoS One December 6, 2017
- 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 Current Opinion in Psychology January 14, 2019
- Evaluation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs Mindfulness Meditation in Brain Changes During Reappraisal and Acceptance Among Patients With Social Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry October 1, 2021
- Quadratic Relationship Between Alexithymia and Interoceptive Accuracy, and Results From a Pilot Mindfulness Intervention. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2020
- Trajectories of Social Anxiety, Cognitive Reappraisal, and Mindfulness During an RCT of CBGT versus MBSR for Social Anxiety Disorder Behaviour Research and Therapy June 3, 2017
and 6 more in the library