anti-anxiety, mindfulness meditation!

Could mindfulness meditation be an alternative to the drug therapy used to treat anxiety today? At least that’s what a study published with Eric Bui, professor of psychiatry and researcher at the University of Caen, reveals.

Eric Bui holds an honors degree in psychiatry and a doctorate in neurology. After becoming a clinical director-hospital assistant for universities at Toulouse University Hospital, he flew to the US for a one-year post-doctoral contract at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital… He would eventually stay for 10 years.

In Boston, I specialized in post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders, but particularly in chronic grief. This question emerged gradually, only six research groups in the world were interested in it.

Eric Bui, professor of psychiatry, researcher at the University of Caen

Between 2012 and 2017, he notably served as Associate Director of Research at the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. “In particular, we have conducted several randomized clinical trials, including the effectiveness of yoga for the treatment of anxiety disorders compared to cognitive behavioral therapy, which remains the reference for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. This work was the subject of an article published in the prestigious American journal JAMA Psychiatry in August 2020.

Éric Bui joined the university after 10 years teaching at Harvard University’s medical school

When I am anxious, I observe my anxiety without judgment or judgment of myself. I passed it like a cloud.

276 adults with anxiety disorders participated in the trial. For 8 weeks, they received either a mindfulness meditation program (MBSR) or the antidepressant, escitalopram.

The mindfulness meditation program consists of weekly 2.5-hour classes, a day off on the fifth or sixth week, and daily 45-minute exercises to be done individually at home. Patients were taught the theory and practice of several forms of mindfulness meditation, such as breath awareness (focusing attention on breath and body movements), sweeping motion (focusing attention on a part of the body), and mindful movement (moving to stretch and create). increases body awareness and interoceptive awareness).

The dose of escitalopram was initially 10 mg orally per day, and if the drug was well tolerated or delayed, it was increased to 20 mg per day in the second week. Treatment compliance was measured by pill count and patient report. Routine reviews with the clinician were conducted at weeks 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8. At the end of the trial, patients who wished to continue taking escitalopram were accompanied by a caregiver.

The non-inferiority study aimed to prove that mindfulness meditation was as effective as escitalopram for anxiety disorders. At the end of the study, clinical efficacy was found to be equivalent between the two treatments. In addition, at least one study-related adverse event occurred in 78% of participants who received escitalopram, compared to only 15% of those who received mindfulness meditation.