It is known from clinical studies that some patients attempt to cope with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by using recreational drugs. This review presents a case report of a 19-year-old male patient with a spectrum of severe PTSD symptoms, such as intense flashbacks, panic attacks, and self-mutilation, who discovered that some of his major symptoms were dramatically...
Nightmares are a common and serious problem in psychotherapeutic practice, although they are seldom considered as independent mental disorders. There are some promising approaches to the treatment of nightmares, notably Imagery Rehearsal Therapy, a cognitive-restructuring treatment. The core of this approach is the modification of the nightmare script and repeated imagination of the new script....
Background: Many debilitating symptoms arise from cancer and its treatment that are often unrelieved by established methods. Pranayama, a series of yogic breathing techniques, may improve cancer-related symptoms and quality of life, but it has not been studied for this purpose. Objectives: A pilot study was performed to evaluate feasibility and to test the effects of pranayama on...
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether metacognitive psychological skills, acquired in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), are also present in patients receiving medication treatments for prevention of depressive relapse and whether these skills mediate MBCT's effectiveness. METHOD: This study, embedded within a randomized efficacy trial of MBCT, was the first to examine changes in mindfulness...
Abstract There is a growing interest among scientists and the lay public alike in using the S outh A merican psychedelic brew, ayahuasca, to treat psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. Such a practice is controversial due to a style of reasoning within conventional psychiatry that sees psychedelic‐induced modified states of consciousness as pathological. This article analyzes the...
Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience. In its therapeutic forms, mindfulness interventions promote increased tolerance of negative affect and improved well-being. However, the neural mechanisms underlying mindful mood regulation are poorly understood. Mindfulness training appears to enhance focused attention, supported by the anterior cingulate cortex and the...
Background. Meditation practices are associated with a reduction in adrenergic activity that may benefit patients with severe cardiac arrhythmias. This paper describes the design and methods of a pilot study testing the feasibility of a phone-delivered mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for treatment of anxiety in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). Design and...
Mindfulness is defined as a fundamental way of being, a way of relating to all of one‟s experiences whether positive, negative, or neutral, with an attentive, curious, and nonevaluative mindset (Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Williams, Teasdale, Segal, & Kabat-Zinn, 2007). The basic premise underlying mindfulness is that accepting moment-to-moment experiences as they arise, with an open-minded disposition,...
Salvia divinorum has known hallucinogenic effects and is legal in most parts of the United States. Given that this psychoactive substance has a potential of misuse and abuse, further data regarding the clinical and psychosocial factors associated with use are needed. To examine the clinical and psychosocial characteristics associated with use of salvia. The study uses data from the National...
Pain can be modulated by several cognitive techniques, typically involving increased cognitive control and decreased sensory processing. Recently, it has been demonstrated that pain can also be attenuated by mindfulness. Here, we investigate the underlying brain mechanisms by which the state of mindfulness reduces pain. Mindfulness practitioners and controls received unpleasant electric stimuli...