Mindfulness for substance use disorders

Abstract

Background: With almost 22 million clients diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD), an effective, low cost, low resource treatment option, such as mindfulness, becomes a valuable resource. Purpose: The objective of this project was to implement mindfulness into an existing relapse prevention medication assisted treatment (MAT) recovery group to decrease symptom severity in adults with a SUD. Methods: Short guided mindfulness exercises and homework activities were implemented in a weekly SUD MAT recovery group. Data was collected in the form of a demographic questionnaire, the Timeline Follow-back survey, Penn Alcohol Craving Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire at weeks one, four, and eight. Results: The data did not show a statistically significant change from baseline after incorporating mindfulness into the weekly group. Change was noted in the decrease in drug use days from 12 drug/alcohol use days to 10, despite an overall increase in craving scores. Conclusion: Incorporating mindfulness-based interventions into treatment protocols for clients with SUD to help decrease SUD symptoms severity without interfering in other treatment modalities, did not have a statistically significant change in this project. Further investigation into the use of short guided mindfulness interventions is needed. ☐ Keywords: Substance use disorder, medication assisted treatment, mindfulness