Addictions are a very topical problem that affects millions of people, so it is normal that much is invested in researching ways to curb them through various types of therapy.

Although there is no magic cure that can eliminate the problem in a very short time and that works with optimal efficacy in all patients, promising forms of therapeutic intervention are emerging that do not have the disadvantage of side effects, typical of the use of psychotropic drugs.

Here we will see how Mindfulness can help to cope with addictions with and without substance , and how it has a beneficial effect on the psychological state of patients with dependency problems.

What is Full Care?

First of all, let’s look at what Full Care is, usually called by its English name: Mindfulness. It is a set of practices based on vipassana meditation that has been developed through many years of scientific research by physical and mental health specialists.

In the early days of its existence (during the 1970s), the main researcher on this subject, Jon Kabat-Zinn, used Mindfulness mainly to help people who needed help in regulating their stress levels, but as time has gone by it has been seen that Mindfulness is useful for tackling other types of problems, such as the one we are dealing with here, addiction.

Thus, Mindfulness differs from what we normally understand as meditation in that it is not a practice linked to religion or mysticism (or what is the same, it is of a secular nature), in that it has therapeutic purposes that can be measured objectively, and in that it has been designed so that it is systematized and everyone performs these exercises following the same guidelines, so that it is easy to study through science the impact this has on people’s well-being.

Mindfulness is increasingly popular because it has several advantages that we will see later, and this makes in recent years psychologists and health professionals in general have been incorporating this tool into their repertoire . This is why today there is a very active line of research dedicated to studying the benefits that Mindfulness provides in the treatment of people with anxiety, although this is not the only therapeutic application of Mindfulness.

Mindfulness applied to addictions

Now that we’ve seen at least what Mindfulness is all about, let’s look at the different ways it helps fight addiction.

1. Helps to avoid giving in to impulses

One of the characteristics of Mindfulness is that it affects the person’s dominance over the attentional focus, that is, it helps to choose what type of stimuli or ideas and sensations to focus on at each moment.

This is very important in resisting the temptation to use drugs or to fall into the behaviour that has generated addiction (for example, gambling money), and allows us to look beyond these impulses and think more about the medium-term goals that include looking after one’s health.

2. Helps to focus on projects

When it comes to recovering good health and gaining control over their lives, people suffering from addictions find powerful allies in hobbies that allow them to take their minds off the routines that lead them to fall into addiction again and again.

Mindfulness, combined with the existence of this type of hobbies or personal projects, allows one to concentrate on something that motivates the person and that facilitates his or her commitment to the process of leaving behind the dependency on that harmful substance or habit . It helps them to adopt a relatively neutral point of view in which they do not easily give in to outbursts when they know that these will be harmful.

3. Keeps anxiety under control

Many people who have developed one or more addictions suffer greatly from the anxiety that abstinence generates . Mindfulness also helps to cushion this discomfort, since it is designed among other things to regulate the state of activation of the nervous system.

Are you interested in learning how to practice Mindfulness?

If you think that the time has come to take advantage of the potential of Mindfulness to overcome addictions and would like to start in this practice or perfect what you already know, we invite you to come to Centro Mindfulness Madrid , a reference entity in Madrid with regard to Full Care and linked to the IPSIA Psychology therapy center.

We offer both courses and psychological intervention by professionals, so that you are able to improve your quality of life based on habits and practices that you can use in your daily life, in a wide variety of situations. You can see our contact details by clicking here.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

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  • Garland, E.L. & Howard, M.O. (2018). Mindfulness-based treatment of addiction: current state of the field and envisioning the next wave of research. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2018;13(1): 14.

  • Kauer, J.A.; R.C. Malenka (2007). Synaptic plasticity and addiction. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 8(11): pp. 844 – 58.
  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (2009). Mindfulness in everyday life. Wherever you go there you are. Barcelona: Paidós.