If you feel your levels of stress and fatigue are out of control, you could find a form of meditation helps.
While it is not claimed that mindfulness meditation reduces the pain associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis, it can help patients cope with the stress of the disease.
The technique, built on Buddhist tradition, involves clearing your mind and having awareness of every moment that passes.
The meditation technique is growing in popularity with many people suffering from a range of disorders, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety and stress, using it.
A study was carried out on 67 patients, aged 20 to 70, who suffered with one of three types of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritis, for at least a year.
Some took part in mindfulness sessions, led by a trained professional, while the others carried on with their standard care and were given a CD containing mindfulness exercises to do at home.
Those who took part in the sessions showed more improvement in their levels of stress and fatigue than those who were given the CD.
Of 13 patients who had high stress levels before attending the mindfulness meditation session, 11 had lower levels a year on.
Those who did not participate in the meditation sessions experienced no reduction in their levels of stress and fatigue.
There was no difference in patients’ level of pain between the two groups.
Researchers in one study, carried out at Harvard Medical School, believe their results show that the technique can help arthritis sufferers deal with pain.
They gave a group of people practicing mindfulness, and a group not taking part in meditation, electric shocks. Those participating in the meditation had reduced pain unpleasantness by 22 percent and anxiety by 29 percent.
Whether mindfulness can help someone with the condition controls their pain or not, meditation to help relieve stress and fatigue can only be a positive thing.