Can Approaching Anxiety Like a Habit Lead to Novel Treatments?. Issue 5 (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brewer, Judson A.; Roy, Alexandra
• Is Part Of: American journal of lifestyle medicine. Volume 15:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 489
• Page End: 494
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: anxiety -- mindfulness -- habit change -- reinforcement learning -- obesity -- digital therapeutics -- weight loss; Medicine, Preventive -- Periodicals; Lifestyles -- Health aspects -- Periodicals; Health behavior -- Periodicals; 614.44
• DOI: 10.1177/15598276211008144
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1559-8276

Abstract

Anxiety disorders make up the most prevalent class of mental illnesses. Given the growing prevalence of anxiety in the United States and beyond, there is an urgent clinical need to develop nonpharmacologic treatments that effectively treat and reduce its core symptoms (eg, worry). A leading theory posits that although worrying may be unpleasant, the immediate emotions that are avoided by concentrating on worry are often perceived as more aversive (eg, fear, anger, grief). From a mechanistic perspective, worry is thought to be learned and reinforced in a similar manner to other types of positively and negatively reinforced behaviors: habits. Mindfulness training, a practice that brings awareness to cognitive, affective, and physiological experiences, when delivered in-person via programs such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing anxiety, but is difficult to scale in this manner. In this review, we explore novel approaches to using mindfulness training to specifically target the theoretical mechanisms underlying the perpetuation of anxiety (eg, worry as a habit), and the emergence of mobile health platforms (eg, digital therapeutics) as potential vehicles for remote delivery of treatment.