Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction in drug relapse prevention

The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness in the prevention of relapse in drug abusers. Using a quasi experimental design, 90 male drug abusers who had undergone detoxification were selected from among all detoxified individuals referred to drug rehabilitation centers in the City of Tehran. Patients were placed randomly in three groups: Mindfulness training intervention, behavioral drug reduction counseling and a control group in which no intervention was applied. Diagnosis of drug abuse was made using structured clinical interview for diagnosing axis I disorders on DSMIV (SCID-I) as well as tests to measure morphine levels in the blood. Fisher test was used to compare groups. Patients were assessed two weeks and two months after the intervention as follow up measure. Results show that both intervention groups were effective in preventing relapse as compared to the control group. Furthermore, the effectiveness of mindfulness training and BDRC was about the same. There were no significant differences between patients with and without experience of drug abuse and married and single patients. Both mindfulness training and BDRC may be considered effective practical methods in reducing the risk of relapse in male drug abusers.