(NewsNation) — Regularly practicing mindfulness exercises such as meditation is proving as effective as medication in treating various forms of anxiety and other conditions, according to a new study.
Researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health found that mindful-based stress release produces similar results to taking antidepressants for conditions such as agoraphobia, panic disorder, and other social anxiety disorder symptoms. In addition to helping treat these disorders, practicing mindfulness does not produce some of the side effects known to be associated with medications such as Escitalopram, the study found.
A study conducted over eight weeks among 276 participants showed that patients who practiced mindfulness-based stress reduction practices and those who received medication over the same period experienced similar results when it came to reducing anxiety. Researchers said that an initial study found mindfulness to be non-inferior to escitalopram in treating social anxiety disorders.
A new study found that the difference between practicing mindfulness and taking antidepressants was “non-significant”, Dr. Elizabeth A. Hoge of Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington told MedPage Today.
“The bottom line is the two treatments were very similar,” Hoge said. “That confirms our first finding, that meditation impacts anxiety pretty much the same as the drug escitalopram.”
As part of the study, half of the 276 participants practiced mindful-based stress release while the other half received anti-anxiety medication. According to research, those who practiced mindfulness attended weekly classes studying the theory and practice of several forms of meditation.
Researchers found that about half of the study’s participants who were assigned to take medication over the eight weeks experienced side effects. Some of those dropped out, according to reports. Studies have shown that medications such as escitalopram can lead to side effects such as nausea, headaches, dry mouth, fatigue, insomnia, and excessive sweating.
Researchers used standardized scales to measure anxiety, depression, and quality of life, MedPage Today reported. While medication showed minor gains in anxiety reduction halfway through the study, those improvements were not evident by the conclusion of the eight-week experiment.
Those who experienced side effects from the medication typically reported one form of the side effect during the study, the report found.
“What’s reassuring is that the data reflect and mirror our previous findings,” Hoge told MedPage Today. “Before we looked at the effects of overall anxiety using a global scale, and now these additional scales, and measures and questionnaires … basically all have the same outcome, which is that they’re not different between the two treatment groups.”