Hiroe Hu from the US National Institute of Mental Health and colleagues conducted clinical trials and concluded that the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation practices for various anxiety disorders is comparable to taking the antidepressant escitalopram. A secondary analysis of the TAME trials included 276 patients (average age 33 years; 75 percent women) with a clinically established diagnosis of agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalized or social anxiety disorder. Half of them underwent weekly training in the theory and practice of several types of mindfulness meditation, the rest were prescribed escitalopram at a dose of 10-20 milligrams per day. The degree of anxiety, depression and quality of life were assessed in a blinded manner using three patient questionnaires and three questionnaires from treating physicians. The results are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Primary outcomes were recorded after eight weeks, with a total follow-up of 24 weeks. Significant reductions in anxiety symptoms were observed in both groups. No significant differences in treatment efficacy were observed between the groups (Cohen's d ≤ 0.20). However, adverse events were reported by 78.6 percent of participants taking escitalopram versus 15.4 percent of those practicing mindfulness (p < 0.001).
