A new report suggests that mindfulness meditation may be a useful tool that helps alcoholics in their fight against addiction.
Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, led a 16-week pilot clinical trial with 19 participants recruited from addiction treatment clinics. He initially met with some scepticism as to the possibility of people in recovery from recent addiction being able to meditate
“When we started the project, it was met with some concern,” she says. “Some people said ‘You’re going to have alcoholics meditate?’ That’s why we did the pilot study—to show that it could be possible and helpful for them. We thought meditation could teach people new skills to cope with life challenges and create an emotional and intellectual “platform” to tackle not just drinking by itself, but also other problems that may increase relapse risk.”
The trial showed that meditation was possible and could be a useful supplemetary tool for people alongside conventional treatments. Because of the trial results she is now conducting a larger study.
Her work was supported by Michael Waupoose, program manager for Gateway Recovery, an addiction treatment center, who suggests that meditation may assist in those moments of increased anxiety which would normally trigger the urge to drink:
“Mindfulness meditation would teach that person how to be present in that situation, how to be conscious of what’s happening to their body, and how to deal with it without reacting to it automatically. It teaches people how to be conscious of their feelings or thoughts without having to follow them all the way through.”
-