(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. government has spent $410,625 to study the effects of teaching Chinese meditation to cocaine addicts.
“Our clinical experience and pilot studies suggest that Integrative Meditation (IM) from Chinese medicine may help clients engage in treatment, reduce cravings/withdrawal symptoms, and increase treatment retention, which appear missed by a typical behavior therapy,” says the official description of the project published by the National Institutes of Health.
“IM is an adaptation or simplified form of mindfulness meditation,” says the description. “It may enhance existing therapies to help reduce withdrawal symptoms, increase treatment engagement, and prevent relapse through step-by-step therapist facilitation.”
The study, which is titled “Treatment of Cocaine Addiction with Integrative Meditation,” received $225,000 in tax money in 2009 and $185,625 in 2010, for a total of $410,625. The project was scheduled to run from April 1, 2009 until March 31, 2011. The grant was issued by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the NIH.
“The specific aims,” of the study, according to the NIH description, “include: (1) To conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial of 66 outpatient cocaine users with 12 weekly facilitation meetings to assess feasibility of recruiting and retaining cocaine addicts, and to determine effect size of IM-augmented treatment in comparison with Non-directive therapy (NT) control, with both groups receiving standard treatment as usual (TAU), (2) To examine the changes in attention networks and negative mood as possible mediators of treatment outcomes between the two groups.” Click here to continue reading. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69160
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