Mindful awareness is more helpful than cognitive behavioural therapy in rheumatoid arthritis says new study

People with rheumatoid arthritis could benefit from mindful awareness and acceptance treatment, even more so than cognitive behavioural therapy, says research published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Experts compared the impact of three approaches to establish which helped 143 people with rheumatoid arthritis more in terms of day-to-day pain and stress-related changes in cognitions and symptoms. The volunteers were split into three treatment conditions:
• Cognitive-behavioural therapy targeted pain coping skills;
• Mindful awareness and acceptance treatment targeted awareness and acceptance of current experience to enhance coping with a range of aversive experiences;
• Education provided information about rheumatoid arthritis pain and its management.
Before and after treatment, the volunteers made 30 recordings in a diary, assessing that day’s pain, fatigue, pain-related catastrophising and perceived control, morning disability, and serene and anxious affects.
Those in the mindful awareness and acceptance group had the greatest reductions in daily pain-related catastrophising, morning disability, fatigue and daily stress-related anxious affect.

Click here to read the original research.

Image credit: Canon Star

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