Using Meditation to Manage Anxiety

According to Meditation, not medication, to relieve anxiety by Lou Ann Cettina , meditation enables individuals to relax, focus, and be aware of their environment. It is a safer alternative to the common anxiety drug benzodiazepines, which causes addiction and also ineffective for half of its users. Cettina discusses the effectiveness of the different medication types on its individuals by evaluating the results of various studies and research. Meditation is useful for all people suffering from anxiety and anxiety-related conditions such as PTSD and depression. Cettina equates the importance of meditation to exercise and encourages people to incorporate in in their daily lives. She also calls for nurses to teach their patients its importance. Such is also because it reduces medical costs. 

In examining the evidence, the author uses credible and extensive research and relevant studies to show the benefits of meditation. Mindfulness meditation, which is self-initiated, reduces anxiety rates in healthy individuals by 22%, while transcendental meditation, which is coached by an expert, reduces PTSD effects among 84% compared to 59% of non-practitioners. Among practitioners, only 11% increased their medication compared with 41% of non-practitioners. There was a 21% difference in symptom severity between the two groups, with meditators less likely to have an increase in severity. In unemployed people, those meditating showed improved brain activity than non-meditators. NSR self-meditation reduces anxiety and depression within a week and improves mental health within 8 weeks of practice. In incorporating meditation into one's daily life, the established importance and effects of exercise and yoga are used to explain the importance of meditation. Cettina, also gives the quantifiable costs saved yearly by meditation as another reason to promote it. The sum is based on a study by prominent experts in psychology, such as Stahl. One of the ways of encouraging meditation discussed in taking meditation to the bedside is for nurses to coach their patients. This simple application makes the habit easy to acquire and practice. 

Reference

Cettina,  L. A. (2018). Meditation, not medication, to relieve anxiety.  Nursing ,  48 (9), 44-47.  https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000541390.29234.0b