Month: March 2016

Better Measurement of Mindfulness, Anxiety, and Depression

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Thus, differing assessments may support implicitly distinct theoretical positions with respect to operationalizing mind- fulness. . . . researchers must be well informed and intentional in their selection of assessment tools because the breadth of currently available assessments provides researchers with a variety of measures, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. Not surprisingly, the various measures resulting from the diverse operational definitions of mindfulness have, at times, been found to be uncorrelated or only modestly associated, providing further evidence of confusion within the mindfulness literature.” – Adam Hanley

 

A prerequisite in science is that in order to study something you have to be able to measure it. With many concepts such as mindfulness, depression, and anxiety that reflect subjective states, there are currently no objective means to measure them. Measurement then falls to some kind of after the fact test or to a self-report. Traditionally, these variables have been measured with paper and pencil psychometric tests, such as the Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised, the Beck Depression Inventory, or the Profile of Mood States. They ask the participant to answer the question in regard to how they generally feel. These forms are filled out before and again after an intervention to assess the effect of the intervention on these subjective states.

 

With the advent of smart phones, a different kind of assessment method has emerged and is gaining greater popularity. It is sometimes called ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Individuals receive messages on their smart phones periodically asking them to answer questions about their state at the present moment. This can be done on multiple, somewhat randomly selected, occasions over the day or longer. It provides a measure that doesn’t require the participant to estimate how they feel in general, but rather uses an average of measures provided by the participant at various times.

 

In today’s Research News article “Ecological momentary assessment versus standard assessment instruments for measuring mindfulness, depressed mood, and anxiety among older adults”

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Moore and colleagues recruited elderly (over 65 years of age) participants with clinically significant anxiety distress. They compared the results for participants’ levels of mindfulness, depression, and anxiety measured either by traditional paper and pencil measures of how they were in general to those measured with an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) using smart phones. To obtain the EMA measures participants were sampled 3 times per day for ten days. The participants were randomly assigned to receive Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program or a health education program. They were compared both before and after the interventions with both the traditional and EMA measurements.

 

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) involves training in meditation, body scan, and yoga. It has been shown previously to increase mindfulness, and to decrease depression and anxiety levels in normal individuals and those with anxiety disorders, including the elderly. Moore and colleagues found in their study that on average both measures showed an increase in mindfulness and decreases in depression and anxiety, but, the effects were only statistically significant for ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and not for the traditional paper and pencil measures. These results suggested that EMA measurement in more sensitive and less unstable than traditional measures. To further document this, they calculated the number of participants that would be needed to show a statistically significant effects for the two measurement types and found that EMA measures required nearly half as many participants as the traditional measures. Hence, they found that EMA measure are substantially more sensitive and is capable of detecting differences with fewer participants.

 

These results indicate that ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a better way to assess the states of research participants. Obtaining measures at a variety of points in time appears to produce more accurate results than asking the participant to estimate their overall states. This makes sense that actual measures are superior to participant estimates. The EMA technique is more expensive, takes more time and effort, and is more intrusive into the daily lives of the participants, but may be worth it for the improved accuracy and sensitivity.

 

“If you’ve ever struggled with depression, take heart. Mindfulness, a simple yet powerful way of paying attention to your most difficult emotions and life experiences, can help you break the cycle of chronic unhappiness once and for all.” – Mark Williams

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Improve Psychological and Physical Effects of HIV with Yoga

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga is not just about the physical side, it’s also about the mind-body connection. I think having that awareness and accepting their condition can help them when they go out into the world, and lift up their self-esteem. Life is fast – yoga can help them be calm and still.” – Surang Sengsamran

 

HIV is a virus that gradually attacks the immune system. It destroys a type of white blood cell called a T-helper cell (CD4 Cell). This isn’t a problem unto itself, but the immune system is our body’s natural defense against illness. Hence, HIV infection makes it harder to combat other infections and diseases. If HIV is untreated, these secondary infections produce chronic illness and eventually death. It is important, then, in treating HIV infection to strengthen the immune system and increase the levels of CD4 in the blood to fight off disease.

 

More than 35 million people worldwide and 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection. In 1996, the advent of the protease inhibitor and the so-called cocktail changed the prognosis for HIV. Since this development a 20 year-old infected with HIV can now expect to live on average to age 69. Hence, living with HIV is a long-term reality for a very large group of people.

 

People living with HIV infection experience a wide array of physical and psychological symptoms which decrease their perceived quality of life. The symptoms include muscle aches, anxiety, depression, weakness, fear/worries, difficulty with concentration, concerns regarding the need to interact with a complex healthcare system, stigma, and the challenge to come to terms with a new identity as someone living with HIV. Hence, patients with HIV infection, even when controlled with drugs, have a reduction in their quality of life.  There is thus a need to find methods to improve the quality of life in people who are living with HIV infection.

 

Mindfulness has been shown to strengthen the immune system. It also improve psychological and physical well-being in people suffering from a wide range of disorders including depression and anxiety. It has also been shown that mindfulness is associated with psychological well-being and lower depression in patients with HIV infection. Integrated Yoga is a contemplative practice that includes postures, breathing practices, relaxation techniques, and meditation. It has been shown to increase mindfulness, and reduce anxiety and depression. So, it would stand to reason that Integrated Yoga would be beneficial for people who are living with HIV infection.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Integrated Yoga (IY) on psychological states and CD4 counts of HIV-1 infected patients: A randomized controlled pilot study”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1183625434994714/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728960/

Naoroibam and colleagues randomly assigned patients with HIV infection to either a one-hour per day, six-days per week Integrated Yoga practice for one-month or to a treatment as usual condition. Compared to before treatment and the control group, they found that the Integrated Yoga practice produced a significant reduction in anxiety and depression levels and an increase in T-helper cell (CD4 Cell) counts in the blood. It should be kept in mind that there was not an active control condition. So, it is unclear if the effectiveness of Integrated Yoga practice was due to exercise effects or perhaps to expectancy effects, researcher bias effects, etc. It will remain for future research to sort out exactly what is responsible to the improvement in the HIV patients.

 

Regardless, these are exciting and potentially important results suggesting that Integrated Yoga practice may not only improve the psychological well-being of HIV infected patients but also strengthen the immune system. This would make them better able to combat other infections and diseases.

 

So, improve psychological and physical effects of HIV with yoga.

 

“As you become more adept at yoga, you learn which poses can help you, depending on how you are feeling physically. There are certain poses that assist in relieving fatigue, diarrhea, anxiety, depression. You do learn about the nature of self, but you also learn that so much is beyond your control. It helps you realize, somehow, to trust in a higher being.” – Steve McCeney

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available at the Contemplative Studies Blog http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/

 

Improve Psychological Health of Veterans with a Mantra

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Improve Psychological Health of Veterans with a Mantra

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Asking for clarity provides a way to begin to see a path out of the pain of personal issues. With spiritual support the pain begins to be released, the path becomes clearer and the next step to create the rest of life begins to emerge.” – The Merritt Center

 

Alternative and Complementary techniques have been growing in acceptance and use over the last couple of decades. With good reason. They have been found to be beneficial for physical and mental health. Contemplative practices have been shown to improve health and well-being. These include mindfulness practices, meditation, yoga, mindful movement practices such as tai chi and qigong, and spiritual practices such as contemplative prayer. One ancient practice that is again receiving acceptance and use is mantra practice.

 

In today’s Research News article “Multi-site evaluation of a complementary, spiritually-based intervention for Veterans: The Mantram Repetition Program”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1182903115066946/?type=3&theater

Butner and colleagues investigate the effectiveness of a form of mantra practice, Mantram Repetition Practice (MRP) on the mindfulness, mental health, and spirituality of veterans. The MRP involves the repetition of a sacred word or phrase over and over again to slow the individual down and produce one-pointed attention. It is effectively a mindfulness meditation practice, except that there are no formal practice periods. The participant is trained to engage in MRP during their daily activities, periodically and as needed, particularly during times of confusion and stress. The individual selects a sacred word or phrase for use in MRP from a list that have particular meaning to them and within their preferred religious practice. Typical Christian words and phrases are “My God and My All”, “Jesus, Jesus”, “Son of God”, “Hail Mary”, “Mother of Jesus”, “Lord Jesus Christ”, “Son of God, have mercy on me.”

 

Butner and colleagues recruited veterans and measured mindfulness, physical and mental health, and spirituality before and after an 8-week Mantram Repetition Program (MRP) training. The veterans attended weekly training sessions, were encouraged to do homework and to use the MRP during their daily lives. Typical times were while waiting, doing mechanical tasks such as doing dishes, exercising, when encountering annoying situations, while eating, before bed, and to manage unwanted emotions. They found that after 8-weeks of MRP training and practice the veterans demonstrated significantly higher mindfulness and spirituality including greater peace, more meaning in life, and greater faith. After training the veterans also had significant reductions in psychological distress, including reduced somatization, depression and anxiety.

 

It should be noted that there was not an active control group. Improvement was documented by comparing before to after training scores. Because of the lack of active control, there are many confounding, alternative, explanations for the findings. These include participant expectancy effects, experimenter bias effects, simple improvement over time, occurrences between the beginning and end of the treatment period, etc. The results clearly demonstrate that the veterans improved substantially over the 8-weeks. It will remain for future research to verify that it was the Mantram Repetition Practice (MRP) and not a confounding variable that was responsible for the changes.

 

These caveats notwithstanding, the finding for MRP are compatible with those produced by other mindfulness programs with the exception of increased spirituality. It is possible that MRP produces its beneficial effects due to its development of mindfulness. Alternatively, spirituality, by itself, has been shown to be related to better physical and psychological health. So, MRP may be effective due to its improvement of spirituality in the veterans. It may also be that the combination of increased mindfulness and increased spirituality improves effectiveness or that the two have additive effects.

 

So, improve psychological health of veterans with a mantra.

 

“The veterans experiences with spirituality were real and unique, significantly contributing to growth. They needed the inclusion of Christian spirituality as part of their process in posttraumatic growth, and it was the key element in them moving forward.” – Sharon Flowers

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Improve Drug and Alcohol Relapse Prevention with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“it’s tempting to conclude that mindfulness is the “best new thing” for addiction treatment, but that in reality, further study is needed. It absolutely has promise, we have a lot more to learn, this is the beginning.” – Sarah Bowen

 

Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. In the U.S. about 17 million people abuse alcohol. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for over 10,000 deaths annually and including all causes alcohol abuse accounts for around 90,000 deaths each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

 

Obviously there is a need to find effective methods to prevent and treat substance abuse. There are a number of programs that are successful at stopping the drug abuse, including the classic 12-step program emblematic of Alcoholics Anonymous. Unfortunately, the majority of drug and/or alcohol abusers relapse and return to substance abuse. Hence, it is important to find an effective method to prevent these relapses.

 

Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve recovery from various addictions. Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) has been developed to specifically assist in relapse prevention and has been shown to be effective. “MBRP integrates mindfulness practices with cognitive-behavioral Relapse Prevention therapy and aims to help participants increase awareness and acceptance of difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations to create changes in patterns of reactive behavior that commonly lead to relapse. Mindfulness training in MBRP provides clients with a new way of processing situational cues and monitoring internal reactions to contingencies, and this awareness supports proactive behavioral choices in the face of high-risk relapse situation.” – Grow et al. 2015

 

An important treatment component that may contribute to the effectiveness of MBRP is that it be practiced at home. The program recommends that meditation be practiced for 45 minutes a day. Yet, there has been no systematic research concerning compliance with home practice and its effects on the efficacy of treatment. In today’s Research News article “Enactment of Home Practice Following Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention and its Association with Substance-use Outcomes”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1182260555131202/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4260625/

Grow and colleagues recruited adults with substance abuse disorders who had successfully completed withdrawal and a therapeutic program randomly and were in remission. “Primary substances of abuse were alcohol (45.2%), cocaine/crack (36.2%), methamphetamines (13.7%), opiates/heroin (7.1%), marijuana (5.4%), and other (1.9%).” They were assigned to either a Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) program or a standard aftercare program. The MBRP program consisted of 8 weekly 2-hour closed small group (6-11) sessions.

 

They found that MBRP participants engaged in home practice that peaked immediately after treatment and declined slightly 2 to 4-months post-treatment. Importantly the amount of home practice was significantly inversely related to cravings for drugs and the frequency of drug use post-treatment. In other words, the more the participant practiced at home the less they craved drugs and the less they used them. This underscores the potential importance of home practice.

 

It is important to note that the results do not demonstrate that engagement in home practice caused less craving and drug use as these results were correlative. It is possible that less craving and less drug use caused more home practice or that some third factor such as the degree of addiction was responsible for both. Regardless the present results indicate that there needs for closer study of what transpires outside of the treatment sessions as potential influences on the success of treatment.

 

So, improve drug and alcohol relapse prevention with mindfulness.

 

“If there is no opportunity to use then there is no internal struggle. It is this internal struggle that feeds the cravings. Trying to fight cravings is like trying to block a waterfall. We end up being inundated. With the approach of mindfulness, we step aside and watch the water (cravings, impulses & urges) just go right past.” – Chris Walsh

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Improve Parenting with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It’s as simple as practicing paying full attention to our kids, with openness and compassion, and maybe that’s enough at any moment.” – Mark Bertin

 

Raising children, parenting, is very rewarding. But, it can also be challenging. Children test parents frequently. They test the boundaries of their freedom and the depth of parental love. They demand attention and seem to especially when parental attention is needed elsewhere. They don’t always conform to parental dictates or aspirations for their behavior. They are often affected more by peers, for good or evil, than by parents. It is the parents challenge to control themselves, not overreact, and act appropriately in the face of strong emotions. Meeting these challenges becomes more and more important as the youth approaches adolescence, as that is the time of the greatest struggle for independence and the potential for damaging behaviors, particularly, alcohol, drugs, and sexual behavior.

 

The challenges of parenting require that the parent be able to deal with stress, to regulate their own emotions, and to be sensitive and attentive to their child. These skills are exactly those that are developed in mindfulness training. It improves the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It improves emotion regulation. And it improves the ability to maintain attention and focus in the face of high levels of distraction. So, it would seem reasonable to postulate that mindfulness training would improve parenting skills.

 

In today’s Research News article “Integrating Mindfulness with Parent Training: Effects of the Mindfulness-Enhanced Strengthening Families”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1181707418519849/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4485922/

Coatsworth and colleagues add mindfulness training to an empirically validated program for enhancing parenting skills called the Strengthening Families Program (SFP). The mindfulness enhancements were listening with full attention, nonjudgmental acceptance of self and child, emotional awareness of self and child, self-regulation in parenting, and compassion for self and child. They compared families of 6th and 7th grade students randomly assigned to receive either the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), the Mindfulness-Enhanced the Strengthening Families Program (MSFP), or a home study control. Training was delivered in 7 weekly, 2-hour, sessions, where the parents and youth meet in separate sessions.

 

They found that the mothers in both the SFP and MSFP groups self-reported significantly improved levels of self-regulation in parenting, better emotional awareness of youth, greater positive affective/interaction quality with their youths, and higher levels of family involvement than the control group. They also reported better monitoring and alcohol rule communication with their youth. The youths reported that their mothers demonstrated significantly improved listening with full attention, better self-regulation in parenting, and greater compassion/acceptance toward their youths. In terms of the fathers, they found greater emotional awareness of youth, more compassion/acceptance for their youths, more compassion/acceptance for themselves as parents, more positive affective/interaction quality, and higher levels of family involvement. Interestingly, adding the mindfulness component increased the impact of the training for the fathers but not the mothers.

 

The findings clearly demonstrate that the Strengthening Families Program improves parenting and that the addition of a mindfulness component improved its effectiveness for fathers. These results suggest that mindfulness training is important in improving parenting particularly for fathers. These results were found for a particularly important and challenging time for parents, the beginning of the transition to adolescence.

 

So, improve parenting with mindfulness.

 

“Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which our connection to our child, and awareness of our child’s presence, helps us become better grounded in the present moment.” – The Mindful Parent

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Shape the Brain to Improve Attention with Meditation

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Regular meditators activated fewer brain regions than non-meditators in order to achieve the same performance during an attentional task. This is evidence that meditation training can increase brain efficiency in attention and impulse control.” – Elisa Kozasa

 

One of the primary effects of meditation training is an improvement in the ability to pay attention to the task at hand and ignore interfering stimuli. This is an important consequence of meditation training and produces improvements in thinking, reasoning, and creativity. These improvements are known to occur due to the effects of meditation training on the brain. It appears That meditation increases the size, connectivity, and activity of areas of the brain that are involved in paying attention.

 

A common method to study the activity of the nervous system is to measure the electrical signal at the scalp above brain regions. Changes in this activity are measurable with mindfulness training. One method to observe information processing in the brain is to measure the changes in the electrical activity that occur in response to specific stimuli. These are called evoked potentials or ERPs. The signal following a stimulus changes over time. The fluctuations of the signal after specific periods of time are thought to measure different aspects of the nervous system’s processing of the stimulus.

 

The P3 response in the evoked potential (ERP) occurs around a quarter of a second following the stimulus presentation. It is a positive change that is maximally measured over the central frontal lobe. The P3 response has been associated with the engagement of attention. So, the P3 response is often used as a measure of brain attentional processing with the larger the positive change the greater the attentional focus. The N2 response in the evoked potential (ERP) generally precedes the P3 response. It is a negative change that is maximally measured over the frontal lobe. The N2 response has been associated with the engagement of attention to a new or novel stimulus. So, the N2 response is often used as a measure of brain attentional processing with the large the negative changes an indication of greater discrimination of new stimuli.

 

In today’s Research News article “Event-related potential correlates of mindfulness meditation competence”

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Atchley and colleagues measure the P3 and N2 responses in naive, novice (less than 1000 hours of experience), or experienced (more than 5000 hours of experience) meditators in an attempt to measure the effects of amount of meditation practice on brain function. The participants listened to a series of tones. ERPs were measured under two conditions. In the first condition they were asked to push a button whenever and infrequent high-pitched tome occurred. In the second condition they meditated by counting breaths and were asked to ignore the tones.

 

They found that all groups had lower P3 responses in the breath counting condition, but both groups of meditators had greater reductions in the response than the naïve participants. This suggested that meditation training improves the ability to screen out distracting or irrelevant stimuli. Meditators also had a greater reduction in N2 amplitude than the naïve group in the breath counting condition. This suggests that meditation training improves the ability to react less to new stimuli and thereby have an improved ability to ignore new stimuli and not react to novelty.

 

It is interesting that no differences were found between novice and experienced meditators. But, their definition of a novice meditator as having less than 1000 hours of experience may actually have produced a group of fairly experienced meditators as the novice group averaged 2.4 years of meditation experience. Perhaps with a less experienced group, differences with experienced meditators may have been seen.

 

Regardless, the results demonstrate that meditation reshapes the brain to improve the ability to pay attention to the task at hand and ignore irrelevant and/or distracting information. So, shape the brain to improve attention with meditation.

 

“To cultivate attention, it is sufficient to rely on one basic principle: return again and again to what is already there. Our body knows how to sit straight. Our breath knows how to flow naturally. Our mind and our hearts already know how to rest. In this practice, we simply allow them to do that. Whenever there is a disturbance, we return to what is already there.” – Ken McLeod

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Promote Physical and Mental Well-Being with Tai Chi

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Tai Chi exercise had positive effects on the self-assessed physical and mental health of college students. Scores on the mental health dimension appeared to be particularly sensitive to change. Colleges/universities might consider offering Tai Chi as a component of their ongoing physical activity programs available to students.” – Y. T. Wang

 

Many people have fond memories of their college years. It is likely, however, that they forgot about the stress and angst of those years. The truth is that college is generally very stressful for most students, from the uncertainty of freshman year, to the social stresses of emerging adulthood, to the anxiety of launching into a career after senior year. Evidence for the difficulties of these years can be found in college counseling centers which are swamped with troubled students. In fact, it’s been estimated that half of all college students report significant levels of anxiety and depression.

 

Being able to perform at an optimum level is important in college. It would be very helpful if a

safe and effective way could be found to reduce stress, depression and anxiety in college students. Mindfulness training has been shown to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression . So, mindfulness training would appear to be well suited to deal with the problems of college students. The ancient eastern practice of mindful movement Tai Chi has been shown to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Hence, it would make sense to investigate whether Tai Chi practice might be effective for improving college student angst.

 

In today’s Research News article “A systematic review of the health benefits of Tai Chi for students in higher education”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1180406471983277/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4733099/

Webster and colleagues review the published literature on the effectiveness of Tai Chi practice in improving college student physical and psychological states. They found that that the preponderance of evidence in the literature reported that Tai Chi practice significantly improved muscular flexibility. But the most interesting effects were in the psychological domain with Tai Chi practice significantly reducing depression, anxiety, symptoms of compulsion, somatization symptoms, hostility, and symptoms of phobia, and improved interpersonal sensitivity.

 

Hence, the published scientific literature suggests that Tai Chi practice can be of significant benefit for college students, improving them physically and improving their psychological well-being. Tai Chi practice is a gentle mindful movement practice. It is safe, having few if any adverse consequences, and effective with college students. This suggests that the engagement in Tai Chi practice should be encouraged in college promoting the physical and mental well-being of the students.

.

 

“Of all the exercises, I should say that T’ai Chi is the best. It can ward off disease, banish worry and tension, bring improved physical health and prolong life. It is a good hobby for your whole life, the older you are, the better. It is suitable for everyone – the weak, the sick, the aged, children, the disabled and blind. It is also an economical exercise. As long as one has three square feet of space, one can take a trip to paradise and stay there to enjoy life for thirty minutes without spending a single cent.” ~T.T. Liang

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Improve Emotions in MS with Mindfulness

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By Dr. John M. de Castro

 

“Mindfulness practice appears to be a safe, drug-free approach to coping with stress and anxiety, which may in turn help reduce your MS symptoms.” – Amit Sood

 

“Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most widespread disabling neurological condition of young adults around the world. more than 400,000 people in the United States and about 2.5 million people around the world have MS. About 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States. The most common early symptoms of MS are: fatigue vision problems tingling and numbness vertigo and dizziness muscle weakness and spasms problems with balance and coordination.” – Healthline

 

MS is a progressive demyelinating disease which attacks the coating on the neural axons which send messages throughout the body and nervous system. It is most commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50 years.  Unfortunately, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis.  There are a number of approved medications that are used to treat MS but are designed to lessen frequency of relapses and slow the progression of the disease, but they don’t address individual symptoms. Although there is a progressive deterioration, MS is not fatal with MS patients having about the same life expectancy as the general population. Hence, most MS sufferers have to live with the disease for many years. So, quality of life becomes a major issue. There is a thus a critical need for safe and effective methods to help relieve the symptoms of MS and improve quality of life.

 

Quality of life with MS is affected by fatigue, cognitive decrements, physical impairment, depression, and poor sleep quality. But, the emotional symptoms are the most problematic with clinically significant depression present in 50% of MS sufferers and anxiety in about a third of MS sufferers. Since mindfulness has been previously shown to improve depression, sleep quality, cognitive impairments, and emotion regulation, it would seem likely that mindfulness would affect the quality of life in MS patients.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Anxiety, Depression and Stress in Women with Multiple Sclerosis”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1179736912050233/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4733502/

Kolahkaj and Zargar compared MS patients who were randomly assigned to receive either Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or treatment as usual. They were compared prior to the intervention, after and two months later. They found that MBSR produced clinically significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress that were maintained two months after the end of active treatment.

 

The size and endurance of the effectiveness of MBSR is striking. But, it should be remembered that the control condition did not receive any active intervention, only receiving treatment as usual. Hence, the effectiveness of MBSR could be due to a number of contaminants including expectancy effects, experimenter bias effects, attention effects, etc. or social effects as MBSR is conducted in groups. It remains for future research to compare MBSR to other active interventions. In addition, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) involves meditation, body scan, and Hatha yoga. It is a potent combination. But, it leaves the question open as to which of the components is effective against the various symptoms of MS. Once again, future research is needed to begin to separate out effective from ineffective components.

 

MBSR is known to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. Since MS produces considerable stress in the sufferers, reducing the responses to stress may be a very important component of MBSR’s effectiveness for depression and anxiety. Also the yoga component of MBSR may be helpful in helping the MS sufferers to better deal with the effects of MS on motor movements and this may reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Both meditation and yoga are known to improve emotion regulation, allowing the patient to better experience their emotions, yet respond to them adaptively and positively. This could markedly reduce anxiety, depression, and in turn, stress.

 

Regardless of the mechanism, it is clear that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) produces marked improvement in the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress of MS patients. So, improve emotions in MS with mindfulness.

 

“I dissolved into a spiral of negative thinking. But since I started to practise mindfulness, I can control my negative thoughts and fears about the future. My stress levels are the lowest they’ve ever been and I’m back at work full-time.

I think mindfulness is even having a physical effect on the progression of the disease – my disability progression continues to be slow, even though I’ve been diagnosed for five years now.” – Gareth Walker

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

It’s a Wonderful World

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

(What a) Wonderful World – Bob Thiele and George David Weiss

 I see trees of green, red roses, too,
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shaking hands, sayin’, “How do you do?”
They’re really sayin’, “I love you.”

I hear babies cryin’. I watch them grow.
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world

This is such a beautiful song that was sung by Louis Armstrong and has become a standard. It is what I consider a ballad of mindfulness. Its optimism and positive view of the world is exactly what is experienced when we are truly mindful, when we are centered in the present moment, when you take the time and open up to it without judging it.

 

If you look mindfully, carefully, with an open mind at everyday thing like “trees of green” and “red roses, too” you can witness the incredible beauty in a single leaf or the bloom of a flower. They’re a testament to the miracle of nature in which we are immersed. As eloquently stated by Georgia O’Keeffe “Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” To truly appreciate it you have to mindfully spend some time with it. But, if you do, you will be immensely rewarded. The flower that we so take for granted will suddenly become a thing of incredible beauty and complexity. You will see in this simple thing more than you could ever imagine. It will make you happy just to be alive and think what a wonderful world.

 

If you look up mindfully, carefully, with an open mind at the “skies of blue, and clouds of white” the “colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky” you will witness the power and glory of nature right in front of your eyes. If you take the time you will experience its’ ever changing nature with every moment a unique vista that has never happened before and will never happen again. You will see all movement of the air and moisture that our so essential to not only our lives but to every living thing on earth. As Joni Mitchell sung in “Both Sides Now”, Bows and flows of angel hair, And ice cream castles in the air, And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.” The simplest everyday things are a treasure if you invest the time to experience them deeply. It too will make you happy just to be alive and think what a wonderful world.

 

If you look mindfully, carefully, with an open mind at the “the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,” you can witness the daily cycle that is so fundamental to the planet and so influential to our entire being. Impermanence is on display. Everything about us changes from moment to moment over the day and night. These are called diurnal rhythms that encompass our activity cycles, our hormone levels, our mood, and even our cognitive abilities. Watch them carefully and you’ll see that you are never the same. Each moment, you and your world are different than they’ve ever been before or will ever be again. Treasure each and every moment throughout the day and night as they never will be repeated. The wonder of them too will make you happy just to be alive and think what a wonderful world.

 

If you look mindfully, carefully, with an open mind at “the faces of people going by” you can witness the extraordinary uniqueness of each and every one. Look deep into their being and see the struggles and burdens they bear and send loving kindness wishes their way. Recognize that

beneath the masks, below their insecurities, they are just like you. Recognize that their smile is “really sayin’, “I love you.” Looking deeply in yourself you will also find a sincere love for each and every one of them. Breaking through our judgments, our stereotypes, our assumptions and just seeing them as they are will open up an appreciation and wonder at every human life. The experience of this love that surrounds you and is in you will make you happy just to be alive and think what a wonderful world.

 

If you look mindfully, carefully, with an open mind at “babies cryin” and you “watch them grow” you’ll witness the wonder of a human life developing and thriving. Everyone loves a baby and your heart will glow with love and wonder if you just take the time to witness the good feelings in yourself. Don’t rush as the baby will never ever be the same again. It’s growing and changing moment to moment and you’ll be amazed to watch it acquiring more and more ability as it explores and test its’ world. Let yourself savor the love that the infant sends back to you. Simply allow yourself the time and focus to truly experience it. This too will make you happy just to be alive and think what a wonderful world.

 

The message of the song and this essay is to look carefully and mindfully at everything in your day to day experience. There is so much wonder, beauty, and love that you’ll experience a genuine happiness that comes from within. The simplest most common things are a source of joy if you take the time and open up to let them. It truly is a wonderful world.

 

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” ~ Henry Miller

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Improve Gastrointestinal Disorders with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

 “The functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are a group of more than 20 chronic and hard to treat medical conditions of the gastrointestinal tract that constitute a large proportion of the presenting problems seen in clinical gastroenterology.” – Jennifer Wolkin

 

Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders are the most common disorders of the gastrointestinal tract in the general population. The most common disorder in this group is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders can involve the esophagus, stomach and/or intestines and are disorders of function (how these structures work), not structural or biochemical abnormalities. Estimates vary, but about 25% of people in the United States have one of these disorders. The conditions account for about 40% of GI problems seen by doctors and therapists.

 

The cause(s) of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders are not known. But, emotion dysregulation is suspected to be involved. It is clear that psychological stress exacerbates the illnesses and anxiety amplifies the symptoms. This suggests that mindfulness or the lack thereof may be involved as mindfulness is known to be helpful in reducing the psychological and physical responses to stress and mindfulness is known to improve emotion regulation. In addition, contemplative practice has been shown to improve the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. So, it would make sense to further investigate the relationship of mindfulness to emotion regulation, stress, and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Mindfulness in Psychological and Somatic Symptoms of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1178359818854609/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4733315/

Mazaheri investigated the relationships between gastrointestinal symptoms, emotions, emotion regulation, and mindfulness in patients diagnosed with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. They found that the higher the levels of either depression, anxiety, or stress the greater the GI symptoms and that the lower the levels of emotion regulation the greater the symptoms. Significantly, they found that high levels of mindfulness were associated with lower levels of GI symptoms, depression, anxiety, and stress and with higher levels of emotion regulation.

 

The results support the contention that an inability to regulate emotions and stress are an important factor in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. In addition, they suggest that mindfulness is not only associated with lower levels of emotion and psychological stress but also with a greater ability to regulate these emotions. It should be noted that the results of this study are strictly observational and correlational and as such no conclusion about causation can be reached. But, the results give strong support to the need to perform a randomized controlled trial where mindfulness is trained and its effects on emotion regulation and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders are measured.

 

With the caveat that causation hasn’t been established, it can be speculated that mindfulness training may be a safe and effective method for both the prevention and treatment of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. Mindfulness’ ability to improve emotion regulation may help the individual to be able to better experience emotions but respond to them in an effective and adaptive manner, lessening their impact. It remains for future research to investigate this exciting possibility.

 

So, improve gastrointestinal disorders with mindfulness.

 

“patients with heightened GI-specific anxiety may benefit from participation in a mindfulness programme as an adjunct to their usual clinical care.” – D. J. Kearney

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies