Being mindful of our insomnia can get us to sleep? - Mindfulness aproach to sleep disorders
Rachel Cohen, Itamar Pereira, M. Marguilho, Maria Do Céu Sousa, Bianca Vasconcelos Gomes Ferreira
European Psychiatry March 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2347 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Non-systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The authors conclude that mindfulness-based strategies may be a valuable treatment option for sleep disorders, especially in patients with concomitant mental illness. They propose mechanisms involving awareness of insomnia symptoms and modulation of sleep-related arousal, and argue that further research is needed to standardize approach type, duration, and outcome measures. |
Abstract
Introduction: Sleep disorders (e.g., insomnia) are extremely prevalent in our population and are intimately associated with distress and productivity impairment. It is estimated that between 40 to 60% of people suffering from a sleep disorder have an underlying psychiatric diagnosis. Mindfulness, which is described as the quality or state of being self-conscious or aware of something, has shown to be a potential helpful therapy in insomnia.
Objectives: Therefore, and due to the lack of new and effective treatment approaches, we did a non-systematic review of the positive impact of mindfulness in quality of sleep.
Methods: Bibliographic research through PubMed, Web of Science and Springer Link.
Results: The mindfulness tools that may be linked to its therapeutic effects include the awareness state and conscious posture to respond when perceiving insomnia symptoms, as well as the modulation of sleep-related arousal courses. These can be primary when directly related to the inability to sleep, or secondary if considering the relationship with thoughts about sleep (such as the tendency to create bias in the attention and perception of sleep related thoughts). Formerly, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MTPC) was designed for the treatment of chronic depression and has shown to be efficacious. It was hypothesized that interoceptive dysfunction in the insula, commonly observed in anxiety and depression, may respond to MTPC by the gained interoceptive awareness, which provides advantage to adapt to life challenges and ongoing adjustments.
Conclusions: Based on the currently available literature, mindfulness-based strategies may be a valuable treatment option in sleep disorders, especially for patients with concomitant mental illness. Therefore, it is necessary further research to standardize in terms of type of approach, duration, and outcome measures since it seems promising as an intervention for insomnia. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |