Mindfullness and Epilepsy

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a technique used primarily to manage stress , though benefits have been shown in several other conditions, including epilepsy.
It is described as “moment-to-moment awareness cultivated by purposefully paying attention to the present experience”
It is often practiced as a part of meditation, yoga, or other techniques such as “body scanning”
Mindfulness developed from Eastern culture, but since has been widely adopted as an important therapeutic tool

Mindfulness can effectively reduce stress.
- Stress has been identified as a trigger for seizures in some people with epilepsy.
Depression and anxiety are more prevalent among people with epilepsy.
- Both can improve with mindfulness-based interventions.
While more research is needed, in the largest study to date, people with medically refractory epilepsy who received a mindfulness-based intervention experienced
- Overall improvement in quality of life
- Reduced seizure frequency
- Improvement in depression
- Improved cognition

Mindfulness may produce structural and functional changes in areas involved in memory, emotional regulation, and attention, including the limbic system and prefrontal cortex.
Mindfulness has been associated with reduction of interleukin-6 , a substance involved with our body’s response to inflammation.

Talk to your doctor or other health care provider. They may be able to provide you with resources to get started.
Check out websites like mindful.org .
Smartphone apps are available. Two of the most frequently recommended apps are Calm and Headspace.

References

Khoury B, Sharma M, Rush S, and Fournier C. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2015; 78: 519.
Wood K, Lawrence M, Jani B, Simpson R, and Mercer SW. Mindfulness-based interventions in epilepsy: a systematic review. BMC Neurology, 2017; 17: 52.
Tang V, Poon Wai, Kwan P. Mindfulness-based therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy. Neurology, 2015; 85: 1100-1107.
Tang YY, Hölzel BK, Posner MI. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews in Neuroscience, 2015; 16: 213.
Paulus MP. Neural basis of mindfulness interventions that moderate the imact of stress on the brain. Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews, 2016; 41: 373

Authored By:

David Taplinger MD

on Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Reviewed By:

Susan Vosburgh MSW, LCSW-C

on Tuesday, September 05, 2017

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