Breathwork is an experiential, mind-body approach to psychotherapy that uses a specific breathing pattern, meditation and deep relaxation to integrate mind and body and increase your ability to regulate mental and emotional processes.
Mind-body approaches to wellbeing, including Breathwork, are classified as part of the field of alternative and complementary health practices (Sointu, 2006). Alternative and complementary health practices (including Breathwork) are becoming increasingly popular among people experiencing depression and anxiety, as well as a wide range of other problems.
Results from an American nationally representitive survey showed that complementary and alternative therapies are used more than conventional therapies by people who self-diagnose themselves as experiencing anxiety attacks and severe depression (Kessler, et al., 2001).
This study also found that even among those people visiting conventional mental health providers for anxiety attacks and severe depression, 65.9% of patients with anxiety and 66.7% of those with depression also used complementary and alternative therapies to treat these problems. Use of these therapies will likely continue to increase.
Another study based on a survey of 262 psychotherapy clients assessed their use of alternative and complementary health practices. The study found that 44% of clients were also involved in the use of mind-body modalities, 21% used physical modalities, and 17% used spiritual practices (Elkins, 2005). This study found clients were most likely to use alternative and complementary therapies for anxiety or depression.
The rapidly increasing demand for complementary and alternative health practices has been attributed to the growing importance people are placing on the experience of total wellbeing. A part of this is the increasing emphasis being placed on being treated as a whole person. The growth in the use of alternative and complementary health practices may reflect the decline of biomedical models of disease and the growing significance of patients' own experiences and perceptions (Sointu, 2006).
References
Elkins, G., Marcus, J., Rajab, H. & Durgam, S. (2005). Complementary and alternative therapy use by psychotherapy clients. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 42,, 232-235.
Kessler, R., Soukup, J., Davis, R., Foster, D., Wilkey, S., Van Rompay, M. & Eisenberg, D. (2001). The use of complementary and alternative therapies to treat anxiety and depression in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158/, 289-294.
Sointu, E. (2006). The search for wellbeing in alternative and complementary health practices. Sociology of Health & Illnes, 28, 330-349.