Effects of meditation on anxiety symptoms: a systematic review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety is a subjective state of fear, apprehension, or tension in relation to something unknown or strange that can cause psychological and / or physical discomfort if it occurs in an exacerbated way and, according to the World Health Organization, that represents significant bad effects to the Brazilian population. It is important to deal with this disorder to reduce the physical and psychological damage it causes to individuals; for this, the most used treatment strategies are drug intervention and non-pharmacological treatments such as therapy, physical activity, and meditation. OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of meditation in the treatment of anxiety. METHODOLOGY: This is a systematic review of interventional studies. The MEDLINE (Pubmed) and SCIELO databases were used to collect articles in English and Portuguese, published between 2010 and 2020. RESULTS: Eight randomized clinical trials were selected. Studies suggest a positive association between the practice of meditation and the improvement of the physical and psychological symptoms of patients with anxiety disorder. CONCLUSION: In general, the scientific literature highlights the beneficial effects of meditation in the treatment of anxiety, although more research on the topic is needed.