Mindfulness for the Treatment of Stress Disorders

Abstract

Long-term or severe mental and physical stress can create a state of allostatic load in the body that induces a risk of pathological processes. At present, as these processes are becoming increasingly understood, the list of stress-related disorders appears to be growing. In particular, functional disorders including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and more may eventually be found to share a common pathological basis, appropriately encompassed by the term 'bodily distress syndrome'. The traditional tools offered by medicine, including psychiatry, are intended to fix or attack patients' symptoms, not to release suffering or promote flourishing. Accumulating evidence supports the view that mindfulness based therapy (MBT) represents a realistic and sophisticated approach to deal with stress via mechanisms that induce enhanced body awareness and self-empowerment. The term mindfulness, which derives from the pāli word sati, means to 'remember': remember the body, the mind (intelligence), and the heart (kindness). This is obvious and trivial, but it may, nevertheless, be exactly what is called for in modern medicine. Teaching how to feel whole, physically present, mentally clear, and emotionally balanced may, indeed, be an integrated part of modern medical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)