23 June 2021
Addiction treatment: Can mindfulness replace the twelve steps?
Mindfulness isn’t utilised enough in South Africa in the treatment of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), more commonly known as addiction.
“Modern-day mindfulness programs are often viewed with suspicion in South Africa, where Christianity is the dominant religion. Meditation is perceived with distrust here, even if the programs are designed for Western countries. Mindfulness however has the potential to address the stress and trauma that people with Substance Use Disorders are experiencing, without estranging them from their culture or religion,” says Nanette Minnaar, one of the speakers at the upcoming ADDICTION Conference 2021.
The conference is scheduled for 21-23 July and hosted by SANCA, the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. This inaugural platform will bring together SUD treatment and other medical professional to collaborate with providers, policy makers and regulators to create effective and long-lasting solutions to address the public health crisis of SUDs.
Mindfulness and its role in positive psychology
According to Minnaar, mindfulness is the ability to be intensely aware of where we are and what we are doing – like our thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations – without judgement.
“The practice of mindfulness is used as one of the constructs of positive psychology, as it has been linked to increased positive feelings, a greater sense of coherence, improved quality of life, greater empathy, greater satisfaction in relationships, and more hope,” she adds.
“Other constructs in positive psychology include – amongst others – gratitude journaling, reframing from negativity to positivity, self-compassion, and personal strengths.”
Minnaar says another link between mindfulness and positive psychology is that mindfulness increases well-being and positive mental qualities, including compassion.
“Mindfulness-based meditation has been used in compassion training, which would result in increased sensitivity to oneself and others’ needs. By being empathetic, we would be more motivated to help others. In return, this facilitates greater compassion and gives us feelings of joy and satisfaction.”
Yet she cautions that developing one’s own mindfulness practices is no quick fix. It should rather be seen as becoming a way of life.
“People with Substance Use Disorders and their families often want a miracle cure when they enter treatment. But what I have personally found is that people who are able to develop these mindfulness practices and skills often have better outcomes. They can therefore refrain from using alcohol and opioids. They are also more resilient and manage stressful situations and conflict better.”
Combining mindfulness with more conventional SUD treatment
Minnaar believes mindfulness can be used in combination as an aid in conventional treatment programmes, to effectively help the people they treat achieve meaningful, long term success.
New research by Bowen and colleagues (2021) confirmed that their Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), and the standard relapse-prevention program, were both more successful at reducing relapse than the well-known 12-step program. The MBRP however combines practices like sitting meditation with standard relapse prevention skills, such as identifying events that trigger relapse.
“Traditional treatment for Substance Use Disorders often focus on avoiding or controlling triggers that result in negative emotion or craving,” Minnaar says. "But combining this with mindfulness aims to help participants to name and tolerate craving and negative emotion, rather than fighting or avoiding the difficult states of mind that arise when withdrawing from a substance."
“Mindfulness is a skill that the person with a Substance Use Disorder can continue using for the rest of his or her life,” she says. “The role of Substance Use Disorder treatment is, after all, for a person to obtain skills to live a life of sobriety. And one such a tool that aids sobriety, is learning how to change the mindset of one’s thoughts. This could result in the end of suffering. A change in mindset also teaches a person in treatment how to cope with thoughts and emotions without using a substance.”
She adds that mindfulness in this regard is not only useful for people living with Substance Use Disorders, but can be successfully applied and practiced by others in the field as well.
“Those working with Substance Use Disorders in South Africa are over-worked and traumatised. Practicing mindfulness may also offer an effective way for thém to deal with daily challenges and work-related stress. This may have a positive impact on their relationships with people with Substance Use Disorders, which in turn plays a vital role in recovery,” concludes Minnaar.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on why the topics that will be discussed during the ADDICTION Conference 2021 are so desperately needed in South Africa, please visit www.addiction.org.za
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: Idele Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za
For more information on the ADDICTION 2021 Conference:
Website: www.addiction.org.za
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/events/6764476872391712768/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/472710550800721