Studies
have shown the benefit of mindfulness training added to substance abuse
treatment. Now a
study from the National Institutes of Health shows that lack of mindfulness
may be one of the causes of substance abuse, in the first place.
The study calls mindfulness, a “way of being that is focused
on the present moment in a non-judgmental, non-reactive, compassionate manner.”
The researchers looked for mindfulness in a population 107 adults in
residential treatment for substance abuse. At the center, addicts filled out a
13-question survey called the Toronto Mindfulness
Scale. Really, the scale looks at two components of mindfulness: decentering and curiosity. In decentering, a person can “step back” to observe
their thoughts and feelings, rather than being absorbed by them. And in this
case, curiosity isn’t just being generally curious about the world around you,
but instead is a kind of curiousness about yourself – “the desire to know more
about what you are experiencing,” the authors write.
Because the Toronto Mindfulness Scale has also been used to
measure mindfulness in people not seeking
treatment, the researchers could make an interesting comparison. For
non-addicted people, the average score on the decentering part of the scale is
11.93; for people in residential treatment for addiction, it was 6.78. For
non-addicted people, the average score on the curiosity side of the scale was
13.72; for people in residential treatment for addiction, it was 5.58.
Overall addicted people had about half the mindfulness as
non-addicted people.
The authors point out that low mindfulness scores in addicts
may mean that addicts, as a group, have lower tolerance for distressing
experiences. “It is possible,” the authors write,
“that the substance abuse group employed alcohol/drugs as a way to cope with,
or to distance themselves from, distressing emotions and thoughts that they
were over-identified with; in essence, substance use may be a form of coping
with these distressing experiences.”
The study also suggests why mindfulness-based addiction
treatment and mindfulness-based relapse prevention programs work. These
programs teach non-judgmental acceptance of and curiosity about experiences
that are naturally more positive and more negative. By doing so “each
experience can be viewed... as something to be explored and understood, rather
than something to be removed or pushed away.”
Of course, the way many addicts “push
away” these experiences that currently overwhelm them is through using their
substance of choice.
Interestingly, this article supports
the idea of treating co-occurring and underlying issues along with addiction.
In other words, just as depression and anxiety can cause and reinforce
addiction, so too can lack of mindfulness be seen as a “condition” that leads
to addiction. By treating anxiety or depression along with addiction,
innovative treatment centers are improving recovery rates. And now it seems as
if low mindfulness can be added to this list of issues for which directed
treatment should be provided. By helping addicts discover the curiosity and
decentering of mindfulness, we can treat this condition of low mindfulness that
underlies addiction.
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Richard Taite is founder and CEO of Cliffside Malibu,
offering evidence-based, individualized addiction treatment based on the Stages
of Change model. He is also co-author with Constance Scharff
of the book Ending
Addiction for Good.
