Mindfulness and Compassion for Mental Health

Session 3: Social anxiety

Overall Primary Points

We are not getting rid of something; we are inducing balance by regulating our Autonomic NS

  • Resilience is a true measure of improvement: Resilience is defined as “the ability of a substance of object to spring back into shape; the capacity to recovery quickly from difficulties (Oxford English Dictionary)

  • Shame and guilt are distinctly different states

  • Stimulating one’s “rest and digest” system (the parasympathetic nervous system) is more effecting in reducing anxiety than the conventional method of trying to manage the negative states

Article Points

Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity (Hoge et al., 2013)

  • MBSR reducing anxiety in general (GAD)

  • Improved reactions to distress (increased resilience

  • Increase in positive self-statements

  • Resilience is defined as “the ability of a substance of object to spring back into shape; the capacity to recovery quickly from difficulties (Oxford English Dictionary)

  • Indices of association between anxiety and mindfulness: a guide for future mindfulness studies (Jaiswal et al., 2019)

    • Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) pathway activation leads to

      • A cascade of psychological, behavioral, electrophysical, immunological endocrine and genetic reactions in the body

    • Mindfulness downregulates this system’s activity

      • Through emotional regulation

    • Increases executive function

  • Mediating role of self-esteem on the relationship between mindfulness, anxiety, and depression (Bajaj et al., 2016)

    • Mindfulness meditation improves a sense of self-worth

    • The sense of self-worth decreases negative rumination with in turn decreases the tendency toward anxiety and depression

  • Decentering as a Common Link among Mindfulness, cognitive Reappraisal, and Social Anxiety (Hayes-Skelton & Lee, 2020)

    • Decentering is seeing thoughts as objective events and not personalizing them

    • When we do this, it makes for more accurate appraisal of internal and external events as well as the self as an agent of interaction

  • A Compassion Focused Approach to Anxiety Disorders (Welford, 2010)

    • Threat detection is a necessary evolutionary skill

    • People with high levels of self-criticism and shame are more likely to exhibit symptoms of social anxiety and other forms of anxiety

    • There is a distinct difference between shame and guilt

    • The most effective way to reduce anxiety is not through trying to manage it, but by stimulating the soothing system (parasympathetic NS)

  • Effects of Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation on Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Zheng et al., 2023)

    • Loving-Kindness and Compassion Mediation reduce many forms of anxiety as well as social anxiety

  • Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Toward More Authentic Mindfulness Practice and Teaching (Van Gordon & Shonin, 2020)

    • The quality of mindfulness teaching/training is important.

    • Bajaj, B., Robins, R. W., & Pande, N. (2016). Mediating role of self-esteem on the relationship between mindfulness, anxiety, and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 127-131. 

    • Hayes-Skelton, S. A., & Lee, C. S. (2020). Decentering in mindfulness and cognitive restructuring for social anxiety: An experimental study of a potential common mechanism. Behavior modification, 44(6), 817-840. 

    • Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Marques, L., Metcalf, C. A., Morris, L. K., Robinaugh, D. J., Worthington, J. J., Pollack, M. H., & Simon, N. M. (2013). Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivity. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 74(8), 16662. 

    • Jaiswal, S., Muggleton, N. G., Juan, C.-H., & Liang, W.-K. (2019). Indices of association between anxiety and mindfulness: A guide for future mindfulness studies. Personality Neuroscience, 2, e9. 

    • Van Gordon, W., & Shonin, E. (2020). Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions: Toward more authentic mindfulness practice and teaching. Mindfulness, 11(1), 1-4. 

    • Welford, M. (2010). A compassion focused approach to anxiety disorders. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 3(2), 124-140. 

    • Zheng, Y., Yan, L., Chen, Y., Zhang, X., Sun, W., Lv, J., Zhou, J., Gu, X., Zhao, X., & Luo, W. (2023). Effects of loving-kindness and compassion meditation on anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 14(5), 1021-1037.