Stress Reduction as Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis

Behavioral therapy helps to treat the psychiatric manifestations of neurological disorders (e.g., JW Psychiatry Aug 1 2011), but not the underlying pathological process. In multiple sclerosis (MS), stress can result in symptom exacerbation and relapses, but it is unclear whether stress reduction improves the disease, which is treated by disease-modifying agents with potentially significant adverse effects. Researchers have now examined the efficacy of stress management on objectively measured MS disease activity.

Of the 415 eligible patients, 121 were randomized to 16 individual stress-management sessions in 24 weeks or placement on a wait list (205 patients declined to participate, mainly due to the multiple imaging and treatment sessions a…