Harnessing emotional mental imagery to reduce anxiety and depression in young people: an integrative review of progress and promise

TY - JOUR

T1 - Harnessing emotional mental imagery to reduce anxiety and depression in young people

T2 - an integrative review of progress and promise

AU - Pile, Victoria

AU - Williamson, Grace

AU - Saunders, Aleks

AU - Holmes, Emily A.

AU - Lau, Jennifer Y.F.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the young people and experts who contributed to this Series paper. This research was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust Mental Health Priority Area Active Ingredients commission awarded to VP at King's College London, London, UK. Additionally, VP was supported by a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Trials Fellowship (NIHR300002). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service, National Institute for Health Research, or Department of Health and Social Care UK. The funder had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, or decision to submit manuscript. Funding Information: VP reports funding from National Institute for Health Research, Wellcome Trust, Emerging Minds UK Research and Innovation, and Mental Health Research UK. EAH reports serving on the board of trustees of the charity MQ: Transforming Mental Health, but receives no remuneration for this role. EAH receives royalties from books and occasional fees for workshops and invited addresses and reports grants from the Oak Foundation, the Lupina Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council. EAH reports serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Lancet Psychiatry. JYFL reports four other projects commissioned by the Wellcome Trust, outside the submitted work. She also reports other current funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council, Barts Charity, British Academy, and Mental Health Research UK and receives occasional fees for workshops and invited addresses. GW and AS declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Emotional mental imagery is a powerful part of our mental landscape. Given its capacity to depict, process, and generate emotional events, mental imagery could have an important role in psychological therapies. This Series paper explores whether harnessing emotional mental imagery is meaningful to young people; ways in which interventions use emotional mental imagery; contextual and individual factors influencing intervention effectiveness; and mechanisms underpinning imagery techniques. We completed a systematic review of imagery interventions and consulted young people with lived experience (n=10) and leading international experts (n=7). The systematic search identified 86 papers covering a diverse range of imagery interventions. Across the seven categories of techniques reviewed, imagery rescripting for aversive memories, techniques targeting positive imagery, and imagery-enhanced protocols indicated the most potential. The report suggests that harnessing emotional mental imagery in psychological interventions could be a promising approach to reduce anxiety and depression and that mental health science could inform the development of new interventions and help to maximise intervention effectiveness.

AB - Emotional mental imagery is a powerful part of our mental landscape. Given its capacity to depict, process, and generate emotional events, mental imagery could have an important role in psychological therapies. This Series paper explores whether harnessing emotional mental imagery is meaningful to young people; ways in which interventions use emotional mental imagery; contextual and individual factors influencing intervention effectiveness; and mechanisms underpinning imagery techniques. We completed a systematic review of imagery interventions and consulted young people with lived experience (n=10) and leading international experts (n=7). The systematic search identified 86 papers covering a diverse range of imagery interventions. Across the seven categories of techniques reviewed, imagery rescripting for aversive memories, techniques targeting positive imagery, and imagery-enhanced protocols indicated the most potential. The report suggests that harnessing emotional mental imagery in psychological interventions could be a promising approach to reduce anxiety and depression and that mental health science could inform the development of new interventions and help to maximise intervention effectiveness.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113139423&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00195-4

DO - 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00195-4

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85113139423

SN - 2215-0366

VL - 8

SP - 836

EP - 852

JO - The Lancet Psychiatry

JF - The Lancet Psychiatry

IS - 9

ER -