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Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness pp 171–188Cite as

Mindfulness and Anxiety Disorders: Developing a Wise Relationship with the Inner Experience of Fear

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Perhaps no condition better illustrates the intimate relationship between brain and behavior – mind and body – as the inner experience of fear. In this chapter, we present an integrative scientific view of anxiety and clinical anxiety disorders, with an emphasis on awareness and acceptance as a foundation for mind/body health. Whereas anxiety-related psychopathology is characterized by a desire to avoid the inner experience of fear, we postulate that practicing mindfulness can promote a wise and accepting relationship with one's internal cognitive, emotional, and physical experience, even during times of intense fear or worry.

Keywords

  • Anxiety Disorder
  • Mindfulness Training
  • Mindfulness Meditation
  • Mindfulness Practice
  • Physiological Arousal

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

… the term mental disorder unfortunately implies a distinction between “mental” disorders and “physical” disorders that is a reductionistic anachronism of mind/body dualism. A compelling literature documents that there is much “physical” in mental disorders and much “mental” in physical disorders.

– American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV-TR, 2000)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical health psychologist with a Master’s degree in Biomedical Chemistry, USA

    Jeffrey Greeson

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  1. Jeffrey Greeson
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  2. Jeffrey Brantley
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Coord. Unit for Mood & Anxiety Disorders Department of Psychiatry, Casa di Cura Villa Margherita, Arcugnano, Vicenza, Italy

    Fabrizio Didonna

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Greeson, J., Brantley, J. (2009). Mindfulness and Anxiety Disorders: Developing a Wise Relationship with the Inner Experience of Fear. In: Didonna, F. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_11

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