NCT05671419

Mindful Self-Compassion for Anxiety Disorders and Depression

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Georgetown University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 75 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The study will compare 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion training, compared to a control group that does not receive the intervention, on anxiety and depression symptom severity in patients with diagnosed anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder) or major depressive disorder.

Detailed description

Anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, and depressive disorders result in significant distress, impairment in social and occupational functioning and increased risk for suicide. While there are medication and psychotherapy treatment options, they can sometimes be difficult to access and may be ineffective for a proportion of the population. Also, many patients are reluctant to take psychiatric medication, and many prefer to avoid psychiatric care altogether due to stigma or distrust of medical care settings such as a psychiatry clinic. Mindfulness meditation training can be provided outside of a medical care setting and may be more acceptable and feasible for some patients. One way that mindfulness meditation may provide unique benefits for anxiety and depression is through decreasing self-judgment and increasing self-compassion. Research has shown that people with anxiety disorders, for example, have lower levels of self-compassion than people without anxiety. This is consistent with theories about the development and phenomenology of anxiety disorders, which are characterized as having high levels of self-criticism. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to improve self-compassion and self-acceptance. In this study, patients with anxiety disorders or depression will be randomized to either an 8-week class called Mindful Self-Compassion training or a group that does not receive treatment.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Social Phobia
• Panic Disorder
• Agoraphobia
• Major Depressive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Mindful Self-Compassion	The course teaching mindfulness meditation skills relevant to cultivating self-compassion.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-01-16
• Primary completion: 2025-10-01
• Completion: 2026-07-01
• First posted: 2023-01-04
• Last updated: 2025-06-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States