TY - JOUR T1 - Are contemporary mindfulness-based interventions unethical? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 94 LP - 94 DO - 10.3399/bjgp16X683677 VL - 66 IS - 643 AU - William Van Gordon AU - Edo Shonin AU - Mark D Griffiths Y1 - 2016/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/66/643/94.abstract N2 - Mindfulness involves regulating ruminative thought processes by focusing awareness on the present moment.1 The technique derives from Buddhist practice and has received substantial interest and uptake among the scientific and medical community, as well as the public more generally. Based on emerging empirical evidence, the UK’s Mental Health Foundation recently called for mindfulness to be made more readily available on the NHS.2Although there is considerable interest in mindfulness, the rapidity at which it has been extracted from its traditional Buddhist setting has given rise to what has been termed the ‘mindfulness backlash’.3 This has emerged from a wider movement that views many mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) as highly superficial representations of traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings, and asserts that MBIs are teaching ‘McMindfulness’.2,3 Included within the criticisms levied at MBIs are claims that patients are being treated unethically due to being provided with … ER -