Analysis of the Efficacy of Mindfulness Meditation in a Mutual Aid Group for Bipolar Disorder

Background: The bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe, disabling mental disorder characterized by phases of mania, hypomania, or depression. The present quasi-experimental study of 21 BD patients (M age = 44 years, SD = 11.45, 6% women) compared the efficacy of a mutual aid group (MAG) with a MAG that followed a mindfulness-based intervention (MAG+M) over 6 weeks. Method: Both groups were evaluated pre-test and post-test with the following variables: depression, mania, anxiety, mindfulness, and psychological acceptance. Results: Pretest and post-test intragroup analyses showed that MAG+M improved significantly in measures of depression (z = -2.31, p = .02) and trait anxiety (z = -2.43, p = .01), while MAG did not improve in any of the measures. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the post-test. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that mindfulness meditation may improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in a MAG for BD patients. Antecedentes: El trastorno bipolar (TB) es un trastorno mental grave e incapacitante caracterizado por la presencia de fases de man & iacute;a, hipoman & iacute;a o depresi & oacute;n. Este estudio cuasi-experimental con 21 pacientes con TB (M edad = 44 a & ntilde;os, DT = 11.45, 6% mujeres) compara la eficacia de un grupo de ayuda mutua simple (GAM) con otro grupo de ayuda mutua que sigui & oacute; una intervenci & oacute;n con mindfulness (GAM+M) durante seis semanas. M & eacute;todo: Ambos grupos fueron evaluados pretest y post-test con las siguientes variables: depresi & oacute;n, man & iacute;a, ansiedad, mindfulness y aceptaci & oacute;n psicol & oacute;gica. Resultados: Los an & aacute;lisis intragrupo pretest-postest mostraron que GAM+M mejor & oacute; significativamente en las medidas de depresi & oacute;n (z = -2.31, p = .02) y ansiedad rasgo (z = -2.43, p = .01), mientras que el GAM simple no mejor & oacute; en ninguna de las medidas evaluadas. No obstante, no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos en el post-test. Conclusiones: Estos hallazgos sugieren un papel potencial de la inclusi & oacute;n de la meditaci & oacute;n mindfulness en los GAM de pacientes con TB para mejorar los s & iacute;ntomas de depresi & oacute;n y ansiedad.