Mindfulness in psychiatry - where are we now?
Paramabandhu Groves
BJPsych Bulletin December 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1192/pb.bp.115.052993 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based interventions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Argues that mindfulness-based interventions have the strongest evidence in depression and anxiety and work by changing a person's relationship with unhelpful thoughts and emotions. Home practice is framed as both a strength and a weakness: demanding for some, but for others a set of tools applicable to ongoing difficulties, potentially supporting recovery beyond acute treatment and clinician well-being. |
Abstract
Mindfulness is an increasingly popular therapeutic approach. Mindfulness-based interventions have been tried out in a wide range of mental disorders, with the strongest evidence for use in depression and anxiety. Mindfulness operates by changing the person's relationship with unhelpful thoughts and emotions. The need for home practice is both a strength and a weakness. Some find home practice too demanding and a barrier to effective utilisation of mindfulness. Others discover a set of practical tools that, once learnt, can be applied to ongoing life difficulties; in this way mindfulness may have a place in promoting recovery beyond the acute treatment of a disorder. Additionally, mindfulness may be beneficial for clinicians to promote well-being and enhance the therapeutic relationship.
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 8
- Virtual Reality Mindfulness for Meta-Competence Training among People with Different Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review Psychiatry International October 18, 2023
- Online mindfulness interventions in the care of people with physical and mental health conditions: a scoping review. BMJ Open July 18, 2025
- Depression and Mindfulness: Reclaiming the Past, Present, and Future Journal of Humanistic Psychology March 1, 2025
- Examining Mindfulness's Mediating Role in the Relationship Between Infidelity Tendency and Divorce Anxiety. Psychological Reports January 6, 2025
- Rolling out a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention for parents of children with ADHD: a feasibility study Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine June 1, 2023
and 3 more in the library
Cites 21
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Standardised Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Healthcare: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of RCTs PLoS One April 16, 2015
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Teaching and Learning in Medicine April 1, 2003
- Four-Year Follow-Up of a Meditation-Based Program for the Self-Regulation of Chronic Pain Clinical Journal of Pain 1986
and 16 more in the library