Remember the dread of presenting in front of a crowd, or even the thought alone makes you uneasy? For some, anxiety is a reality that they live with that affects their daily functioning. Anxiety is a leading mental health disorder and can range from social anxiety to more generalized forms of everyday worrying. Current models of psychotherapy have sought to address General Anxiety Disorder, also known as GAD. Less is known about third-wave therapies that seek to promote self-compassion for the treatment of GAD. Self-compassion is considered to include traits such as mindfulness, kindness, and a sense of common humanity, or that these experiences are normal part of existence.
A team in China tested whether a self-compassion intervention for the treatment of GAD was more effective than a mindfulness intervention or treatment-as-usual group. Those in the mindfulness and self-compassion intervention participated in eight intervention sessions over a two week period in addition to their pharmacological intervention with anxiety medications. The team assessed for anxiety, worry, depression, sleep, self-compassion, and mindfulness.
Study results showed that both the mindfulness and self-compassion intervention induced a more rapid decrease in anxiety and depression than the pharmacological treatment alone. Self-compassion appears to have also improved sleep quality compared to the other two interventions. The study postulated that the decrease in anxiety led to the improvement in sleep quality. Those participating in the self-compassion intervention expressed a higher willingness to re-attend the intervention compared to the mindfulness intervention. Collectively, these results highlight the therapeutic potential of self-compassion to treat generalized anxiety disorder. Future research will have the chance to replicate these results.