Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate different effects on pain perception among randomly assigned volunteers practicing meditation compared to a relaxation condition. The study examines whether participants of the experimental conditions (meditation versus relaxation) differ in the change of pain perception and heart rate measurement and in religious and spiritual well-being after an intervention. Method: 147 volunteers (long-term practitioners and novices) were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions with a headphone guided 20-minute single session intervention. The change in their pre- and post-intervention pain perception was measured using Quantitative Sensory Testing and Cold Pressor Testing (CPTest), their stress-level was compared by monitoring heart rate, and their religious and spiritual well-being by using the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being (MI-RSB48). Additionally, dimensions of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) measured the psychological resilience of the participants; pain and stress experience, and the state of relaxation and spirituality experience were assessed. Five persons were excluded due to failure in measuring the heart rate and 29 participants had to be excluded because of high values on the BSI. Results: The meditation group showed an increase in their pain tolerance on the CPTest and a decrease in their pain intensity for heat after the experimental condition, in contrast to the relaxation group. Futhermore, the meditation group showed a higher level of religious spiritual well-being (MI-RSB48 Total score) as well as in the sub-dimensions General Religiosity, Forgiveness, and Connectedness after the experimental condition, compared to the relaxation group. Our data is consistent with the hypothesis that meditation increases pain tolerance and reduces pain intensity, however, further work is required to determine whether meditation contains similar implications for pain patients.
Highlights
Pain, and especially chronic pain, is a serious health problem that affects millions of people
Fifty-seven persons were randomly assigned to the relaxation group and 56 participants were assigned to the meditation group
A statistically significant difference between the groups was found in spirituality experience of their technique (relaxation group: M = 45.86, SD = 33.85; meditation group: M = 68.95, SD = 24.63; t(102.36) = -4.15, p < .001)
Summary
Especially chronic pain, is a serious health problem that affects millions of people. Through a series of neural networks, the brain acts as an active part of the pain process, contributing to the pain occurrence When activated, these networks integrate information or schemata from multiple areas in the body, including emotional, physical, and cognitive areas (eg cultural factors, past experiences, personality traits and situational features of the pain experience), to modulate the subjective sense of pain in terms of increasing or decreasing it [7]. Newer definitions state that "pain is a distressing experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, with sensory, emotional, cognitive and social components" [8]. These components of the pain are, to a large extent, subjective [9]. Studies have shown that the severity of pain is more related to psychological and physical well-being than the location of the pain [12,13]
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