You may have tried to overcome your driving anxiety and driving phobias with medication, therapy and other methods – but have you given meditation a whirl?
The specific type of meditation bolstered by two studies is mindfulness meditation, an age-old practice that was developed into an eight-week program in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The program, now known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR, was originally created to help people overcome physical pain, but it’s since been used to treat anxiety, stress and depression.
A study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity showed MBSR reduced the levels of loneliness and loneliness-related health risks, thanks to its ability to decrease stress and its biological side effects. Another study, this one published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, examined the effects of MBSR on those suffering from social anxiety disorder and found it decreased their negative emotions.
Read article discussing the studies and MBSR at Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=focus-on-yourself-to-alleviate-soci
