The Role of Mindfulness in Urinary Urgency Symptoms

• DOI: 10.1007/s11884-016-0348-5
• Publication Date: 2016-01-30T06:31:45Z
• Authors: Sarah A. Adelstein; Una J. Lee
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

Stress, anxiety, depression and patient perception play critical roles in bothersome urinary urgency and related syndromes overactive bladder and bladder pain syndrome. A robust body of brain imaging literature has identified brain changes that occur in patients with urinary urgency and urgency incontinence, and conversely, brain changes that occur after successful treatment of urinary urgency. In an effort to directly target the role central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities in urinary urgency, which occur in regions for high-order function areas for attention, awareness, emotion, and interoception, mindfulness therapies have emerged as a promising treatment option. Mindfulness is the practice of nonreactive awareness of thoughts and sensations, which may reorient cognitive and emotional responses to bladder sensations. Recent studies examining mindfulness therapy for urinary urgency show promising results for a conservative intervention that directly targets the relevant CNS mechanisms now being elucidated.