Reduce Maladaptive Ideas in Substance Abuse with Mindfulness
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“mindfulness is likely an effective tool in helping people with addiction because it’s a single, simple skill that a person can practice multiple times throughout their day, every day, regardless of the life challenges that arise. With so much opportunity for practice—rather than, say, only practicing when someone offers them a cigarette—people can learn that skill deeply.” – James Davis
Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. In the U.S. about 17 million people abuse alcohol. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for over 10,000 deaths annually and including all causes alcohol abuse accounts for around 90,000 deaths each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
Obviously there is a need to find effective methods to prevent and treat substance abuse. There are a number of programs that are successful at stopping the drug abuse, including the classic 12-step program emblematic of Alcoholics Anonymous. Unfortunately, the majority of drug and/or alcohol abusers relapse and return to substance abuse. Hence, it is important to find an effective method to prevent these relapses. Mindfulness training has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for reducing addiction relapse.
The fact that mindfulness training works in reducing relapse implies that there are alterations in mental contents and thought processes that may be making relapse more likely. It has been found that addicts frequently have maladaptive conceptualizations of themselves and the environment called maladaptive schemas. These have been defined as a “broad, pervasive theme or pattern comprised of memories, emotions, cognitions, and bodily sensations regarding oneself and one’s relationships with others … [that] are dysfunctional to a certain degree.” Eighteen different schemas have been identified; emotional deprivation, abandonment, mistrust/abuse, social isolation, defectiveness, failure, dependence, vulnerability, enmeshment, subjugation, self-sacrifice, emotional inhibition, unrelenting standards, entitlement, insufficient self-control, approval-seeking, negativity/pessimism, and punitiveness.
In today’s Research News article “The Relation between Trait Mindfulness and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Men Seeking Substance Use Treatment.” See:
or below or view the full text of the study at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465817/
Shorey and colleagues investigate the degree to which mindfulness is related to these maladaptive schemas in men seeking substance abuse treatment. They found that the higher the level of mindfulness the lower the levels of maladaptive schemas. This was true in general but only 15 of the 18 schemas reached statistical significance. They also found that addicts who endorsed more than one maladaptive schema were significantly lower in mindfulness than those who endorsed one or less.
These results are interesting, but, it should be kept in mind that the study was correlational and mindfulness was not manipulated. So, a causal connection cannot be demonstrated. It is equally likely that mindfulness causes lower schemas, that lower schemas cause mindfulness, or that some third variable, e.g. the intensity of addiction, causes both. It remains for future research to determine if mindfulness training can produce changes in these maladaptive schemas.
Keeping this in mind, the results suggest that maladaptive ways of thinking are associated with addiction and that mindfulness training may be a solution, reducing the schemas and thereby assisting in relapse prevention.
So, reduce maladaptive ideas in substance abuse with mindfulness.
“Teaching clients “awareness in the moment” can help them develop healthy responses to stress and cravings. This attitude of curiosity and openness to inner life can also enrich their entire sobriety.” – Jenifer Talley
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Shorey, R. C., Brasfield, H., Anderson, S., & Stuart, G. L. (2015). The Relation between Trait Mindfulness and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Men Seeking Substance Use Treatment. Mindfulness, 6(2), 348–355. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0268-9
Abstract
Recent research has examined the relation between mindfulness and substance use, demonstrating that lower trait mindfulness is associated with increased substance use, and that mindfulness-based interventions help to reduce substance use. Research has also demonstrated that early maladaptive schemas are prevalent among individuals seeking substance use treatment and that targeting early maladaptive schemas in treatment may improve outcomes. However, no known research has examined the relation between mindfulness and early maladaptive schemas despite theoretical and empirical reasons to suspect their association. Therefore, the current study examined the relation between trait mindfulness and early maladaptive schemas among adult men seeking residential substance abuse treatment (N = 82). Findings demonstrated strong negative associations between trait mindfulness and 15 of the 18 early maladaptive schemas. Moreover, men endorsing multiple early maladaptive schemas reported lower trait mindfulness than men with fewer early maladaptive schemas. The implications of these findings for future research and treatment are discussed.
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