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The Detached Mindfulness approach to anxiety disorders in an Italian mental health service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

F. Raffone*
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
E. Pessina
Affiliation:
2Department of Mental Health, Asl Cuneo 2, Bra, Italy
A. Martini
Affiliation:
2Department of Mental Health, Asl Cuneo 2, Bra, Italy
P. Giunnelli
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
A. Massa
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
E. Carbone
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
M. Russo
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
V. Martiadis
Affiliation:
1Department of Mental Health, Asl Napoli 1 Centro, Napoli
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental illnesses, and a consistent increase was observed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Mindfulness refers to a process that leads to a mental state characterized by nonjudgmental awareness of the present experience. Mindfulness can be considered both a skill and a practice. The stronger is the ability to adopt a mindful state, the less suffering one will experience. While Mindfulness-based Psychotherapies have shown efficacy in their treatment, they have not yet been thoroughly studied in Italian public mental health services. In Detached Mindfulness, negative thoughts are acknowledged and avoided by turning them into actions using a standardized, time-limited, metacognitive intervention.

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Detachment Mindfulness for twelve patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) not being treated pharmacologically.

Methods

We enrolled 12 patients diagnosed with GAD according to DSM-V in an 8-session program of Detached Mindfulness Psychotherapy (once a week). The Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 Scale (GAD-7) and the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) were used to assess anxiety symptoms at baseline (T0), after 4 sessions (T1), and at the end of treatment (T2). The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) was used to assess treatment satisfaction.

Results

The GAD-7 score showed consistent reductions in generalized anxiety symptoms after Detached Mindfulness treatment (mean decrease of -42% at the end of the program). As measured by SQ, patients also reported improvement in physical well-being, relaxation, and somatic symptoms significantly respect to baseline. As for treatment satisfaction, ten out of twelve patients rated their treatment as satisfactory. As reported by patients, mindfulness can become a powerful and effective means to relate to one’s own internal experiences such as anxiety or fear, learning to recognize them, staying with them and avoiding their consequences.

Conclusions

These results showed that detached mindfulness was an effective and cost-effective intervention for GAD, given the short amount of time it requires and the ease with which it can be implemented. For its extensive use in the public mental health system to be further supported, studies on larger populations are needed.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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