Meditation for Anger, Grief and Overthinking: What Is Known

Urgent help first

If you are thinking about harming yourself or someone else, or feel you cannot stay safe, call or text 988 in the US (the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free, 24 hours a day), or call 911 if there is immediate danger. [1] Grief, anger and constant worry can sit alongside depression or anxiety, and the NHS advises medical help if someone is increasingly depressed or anxious after a loss, or is acting in an abusive or violent way. [2][3]

Three experiences, one page

Anger, grief and overthinking are normal human experiences, not diagnoses. This page looks at what research says about mindfulness and meditation for each. Labels used: promising but limited, mixed, insufficient evidence. It is information only and does not replace support from a clinician.

Anger

• What the NHS suggests. Mindfulness techniques can help you notice anger early so you can calm down sooner, alongside counting to 10, calming breathing, talking, exercise and peer support. It advises seeing a GP if you cannot cope or are being abusive or violent. [3]
• Mindfulness programs. A 2025 meta-analytic review (118 studies in all) found mindfulness-based interventions gave lower anger (d = -0.48) and aggression (d = -0.61) than control groups, with effects largest in studies using passive (no-treatment) controls, and the authors asked for more rigorous controls. [4]
• Calming activities in general. A 2024 review of 154 studies found activities that lower arousal (including deep breathing, mindfulness and meditation) reduced anger and aggression, while activities that raise arousal, such as hitting a bag, did not; the results do not support venting. [5]
• Label: promising but limited. Meditation was one of several calming approaches studied together, and effects were larger against no-treatment controls than against active ones.

Grief

• Normal grief. The NHS says there is no right or wrong way to grieve, and suggests talking with others, peer support, exercise and regular meals. [2]
• Prolonged grief disorder. In a 2024 Australian trial of 100 adults, grief-focused cognitive behavior therapy reduced symptoms more than mindfulness-based cognitive therapy at 6 months (large between-group effect), with no adverse events reported. People with severe suicidal risk, psychosis or substance dependence were excluded. [6]
• Wider evidence. A 2025 review of 13 studies found significant associations between self-reported mindfulness and levels of grief and related mental health symptoms; interventions mostly helped secondary problems such as low mood, with mixed results for grief itself and only one randomized trial. [7]
• Label: mixed to insufficient evidence for grief itself. Mindfulness may be a gentler option for some people, but CBT with a grief focus did better in the one head-to-head trial found.

Overthinking: rumination and worry

Researchers call looping, unhelpful thinking repetitive negative thinking: rumination is dwelling on past problems or low mood, and worry is dwelling on what might go wrong.

• Rumination. A 2025 review of 29 trials (2,535 people) found mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduced rumination, with benefits lasting through follow-up. [8] Among people with depression, 19 trials showed a similar drop in rumination, though mindfulness was no better than behavioral activation for depression itself. [9]
• Compared with other treatments. In an earlier review, three studies comparing mindfulness with medication, behavioral activation or CBT found no significant differences. [10]
• Worry. In 51 trials with university students, mindfulness programs reduced rumination compared with passive controls but showed no benefit for worry. [11]
• Where CBT stands. CBT reduced repetitive negative thinking with a moderate effect across 55 trials, and CBT designed to target it did better than less specific approaches. [12]
• Label: promising but limited for rumination; insufficient evidence for worry.

Related pages

• Meditation for Beginners
• Anxiety Disorders
• Stress vs Anxiety, Burnout and Depression
• Mindful Breathing Practices