Addiction of anything is dangerous for the human body. Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that tricks the brain into thinking that drugs are very much needed even after suffering through negative consequences. And getting an addiction only makes the person to go even further into drug abuse. Most people use drugs to let their issues out even when it creates problems of it own over the time. It doesn't only affect one's health but also their relationships with other people, the society and the environment. Although, there are various treatments now available to sober it down and carry on with healthy living.
One of it is mindful body training where women who are drug addicts can recover from it, says researchers as they find improvements in their study on participants. This training helps people understand themselves better not just physically, but also emotionally. They learn how to respond to the signals their body gives out and helps them get better in regulating in self-care.
Says lead author Cynthia J. Price from the University of Washington, “We could teach this intervention successfully in eight weeks to a very distressed population, and participants not only really learned these skills, they maintained increases in body awareness and regulation over the year-long study period.”
Out of the three women groups that the team made for their study, one group received SUD treatment only while the other was made to learn the mindfulness technique adding to the SUD and the third one got a women's education curriculum apart from the treatment.
The entire training was based on one-on-one setting, adding to the substance use disorder treatment that these women were already receiving.
This intervention that combines manual as well as mindfulness and psycho-educational approaches teach interoceptive awareness and also self-care skills. It is called the Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT).
These women were tested in the start of the treatment, and then the tests followed up in three, six and 12 months which depended on a few factors that included substance use, emotion regulation, distress craving mindfulness skills as well as interoceptive awareness.
Lasting improvements were found in these areas for the ones who received the MABT intervention but not the rest of the study groups.
Said Price, “Those who received MABT relapsed less. By learning to attend to their bodies, they learned important skills for better self-care.”
