Month: May 2017

Spirituality is Related to Resilience in Older Women

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“An improved understanding and respect for individual spiritual practices can help shape personalized medical care for older adults, and improve health outcomes.” – Helen Lavretsky

 

Psychological well-being is sometimes thought of as a lack of mental illness. But, it is more than just a lack of something. It is a positive set of characteristics that lead to happy, well-adjusted life. These include the ability to be aware of and accept one’s strengths and weaknesses, to have goals that give meaning to life, to truly believe that your potential capabilities are going to be realized, to have close and valuable relations with others, the ability to effectively manage life issues especially daily issues, and the ability to follow personal principles even when opposed to society. But, the aging process to some extent interferes with the individual’s ability to achieve these goals as a result of a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included, producing declines in mental abilities including impairments in memory, attention, and problem solving ability.

 

Religion and spirituality have been promulgated as solutions to the challenges of life both in a transcendent sense and in a practical sense. What evidence is there that these claims are in fact true? The transcendent claims are untestable with the scientific method. But, the practical claims are amenable to scientific analysis. There have been a number of studies of the influence of religiosity and spirituality on the physical and psychological well-being of practitioners mostly showing positive benefits, with spirituality encouraging personal growth and mental health. Research from this body of work has shown that spirituality and religiosity serve as protective factors against a variety of psychiatric conditions, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, suicide, burnout, eating disorders, substance-related disorders and addiction recovery.

 

Perhaps spirituality counteracts the challenges to well-being produced by aging. In today’s Research News article “Correlates of Spirituality in Older Women.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017739/

Vahia and colleagues examine the relationships between religiosity/spirituality and well-being in aging women. They examined measures obtained in 2005 from the “Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a large NIH-funded multi-center study of the predictors of morbidity and mortality among post-menopausal women.” These included measures of successful aging, religiosity/spirituality, resilience, stressful life events, optimism, attitude toward aging, depression, and physical and mental functioning. They analyzed these measures with bivariate and multivariate regression analyses.

 

They found that high levels of religiosity/spirituality were directly associated with high levels of morale toward aging, resilience, and optimism and low levels of stressful life events. Applying a multiple regression, however, they found that religiosity/spirituality was only significantly associated with higher resilience, and demographic issues of lower income, lower education, and lower likelihood of being in a committed relationship. Hence, in these postmenopausal women, spirituality appeared to be associated with resilience and negative life circumstances. It should be emphasized, though, the results are correlational and therefore do not demonstrate causal connections.

 

The association with resilience is particularly interesting. It suggests that aging women who have high levels of spirituality are also highly resilient and are therefore better able to cope with problematic life circumstances. It remains for future research to investigate whether being spiritual promotes resilience, the other way around, or some third factor may be responsible for the covariation.

 

“Seniors are always somewhere in the grief process. For most, their experience is dominated by losses such as the deaths of loved ones, decreases in physical functioning, and reductions in income. The accumulation of such losses – and the increasing awareness of their own deaths – can lead seniors to an exploration of spiritual issues.” – NAP411

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Vahia, I. V., Depp, C. A., Palmer, B. W., Fellows, I., Golshan, S., Thompson, W., … Jeste, D. V. (2011). Correlates of Spirituality in Older Women. Aging & Mental Health, 15(1), 97–102. http://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2010.501069

 

Abstract

Introduction

The role of spirituality in the context of mental health and successful aging is not well understood. In a sample of community-dwelling older women enrolled at the San Diego site of the Women’s Health Initiative study, we examined the association between spirituality and a range of variables associated with successful cognitive and emotional aging, including optimism, resilience, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods

A detailed cross-sectional survey questionnaire on successful aging was completed by 1,973 older women. It included multiple self-reported measures of positive psychological functioning (e.g., resilience, optimism,), as well as depression and HRQoL. Spirituality was measured using a 5-item self report scale constructed using two items from the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality and three items from Hoge’s Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale

Results

Overall, 40% women reported regular attendance in organized religious practice, and 53% reported engaging in private spiritual practices. Several variables were significantly related to spirituality in bivariate associations; however, using model testing, spirituality was significantly associated only with higher resilience, lower income, lower education, and lower likelihood of being in a marital or committed relationship.

Conclusions

Our findings point to a role for spirituality in promoting resilience to stressors, possibly to a greater degree in persons with lower income and education level. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these associations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017739/

Mindfulness Training is Effective when Learned over the Internet.

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Mindfulness Training is Effective when Learned over the Internet.

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“online mindfulness/stress management programs can be as effective as real-world programs, delivered at a fraction of the cost. . . . online programs could make mindfulness more accessible to underserved populations—as long as they have a computer and an Internet connection.” – Hooria Jazaieri

 

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health and particularly with the physical and psychological reactions to stress. Techniques such as Mindfulness Training, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as well as Yoga practice and Tai Chi or Qigong practice have been demonstrated to be effective. This has led to an increasing adoption of these mindfulness techniques for the health and well-being of both healthy and ill individuals.

 

The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a certified trained therapist. This produces costs that many clients can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with their busy schedules. As a result, there has been attempts to develop on-line mindfulness training programs. These have tremendous advantages in decreasing costs and making training schedules much more flexible. But, the question arises as to whether these programs are as effective as their traditional counterparts. Many believe that the presence of a therapist is a crucial component to the success of the programs and the lack of an active therapist in on-line programs may greatly reduce their effectiveness.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Interventions Delivered by Technology Without Facilitator Involvement: What Research Exists and What Are the Clinical Outcomes?” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010616/

Fish and colleagues review and summarize the published research literature on the effectiveness of mindfulness therapies delivered online. They identified 9 randomized controlled trials of web-based mindfulness training. “All interventions introduced participants to some form of mindfulness practice including body scans, mindfulness of breathing, mindful movement and loving kindness” meditation.

 

They found that the studies reported that mindfulness training resulted in large improvements in mindfulness, reductions in stress, and clinically significant reductions in depression and anxiety. A large proportion of participants, 83%, continued practice after training ceased and the beneficial effects of the practice were still significant as much as 6-months later. These are impressive results which are comparable to the effects reported for therapist guided mindfulness training for stress, anxiety, and depression.  The studies, however, generally used weak control conditions and there is a need to continue the research with stronger research designs.

 

These are important findings in that mindfulness therapies were successfully implemented on-line. Web-based therapy allows for widespread, inexpensive, and convenient distribution of the treatment programs thereby opening up treatment to individuals who live in remote areas, cannot afford traditional therapist led treatment, or do not have the time to come repeatedly to a clinic during the workday. Hence, mindfulness training can be provided at low cost to widespread communities and individuals at their convenience. This greatly magnifies the potential societal benefits of mindfulness training; improving health and well-being.

 

So, mindfulness training is effective when learned over the internet.

 

“One of the benefits of living in a digital age is that we can pretty much access whatever we want. That is certainly true of meditation. Every major meditation center or university has an online component, offering you virtual courses, guided meditations, information on retreats and workshops. “ – Mindful

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Fish, J., Brimson, J., & Lynch, S. (2016). Mindfulness Interventions Delivered by Technology Without Facilitator Involvement: What Research Exists and What Are the Clinical Outcomes? Mindfulness, 7(5), 1011–1023. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0548-2

 

Abstract

New cost-effective psychological interventions are needed to contribute to treatment options for psychiatric and physical health conditions. This systematic review aims to investigate the current literature on one potentially cost-effective form of mindfulness-based therapy, those delivered through technological platforms without any mindfulness facilitator input beyond the initial design of the programme. Three electronic databases (Ovid Medline, PsychINFO and Embase) were searched for relevant keywords, titles, medical subject headings (MeSH) and abstracts using search terms derived from a combination of two subjects: ‘mindfulness’ and ‘technology’. Overall, ten studies were identified. The majority of studies were web-based and similar in structure and content to face-to-face mindfulness-based stress reduction courses. Clinical outcomes of stress (n = 5), depression (n = 6) and anxiety (n = 4) were reported along with mindfulness (n = 4), the supposed mediator of effects. All eight studies that measured significance found at least some significant effects (p < .05). The highest reported effect sizes were large (stress d = 1.57, depression d = .95, both ps > .005). However, methodological issues (e.g. selection bias, lack of control group and follow-up) which reflect the early nature of the work mean these largest effects are likely to be representative of maximal rather than average effects. Whilst there are important differences in the construction, length and delivery of interventions, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the most effective models. Suggestions of key characteristics are made though, needing further investigation preferably in standardised interventions. Given the existing research and the speed at which technology is making new platforms and tools available, it seems important that further research explores two parallel lines: first, refinement and thorough evaluation of already established technology-based mindfulness programmes and second, exploration of novel approaches to mindfulness training that combine the latest technological advances with the knowledge and skills of experienced meditation teachers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010616/

 

Improve Chronic Pain with Mindfulness

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Improve Chronic Pain with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The last thing we want to do is pay more attention to our pain. But that’s the premise behind mindfulness, a highly effective practice for chronic pain (among other concerns).” – Margarita Tartakovski

 

We all have to deal with pain. It’s inevitable, but hopefully it’s mild and short lived. For a wide swath of humanity, however, pain is a constant in their lives. At least 100 million adult Americans have common chronic pain conditions. It has to be kept in mind that pain is an important signal that there is something wrong or that damage is occurring. This signals that some form of action is needed to mitigate the damage. This is an important signal that is ignored at the individual’s peril. So, in dealing with pain, it’s important that pain signals not be blocked or prevented. They need to be perceived. But, methods are needed to mitigate the psychological distress produced by chronic pain.

 

The most common treatment for chronic pain is drugs. These include over-the-counter analgesics and opioids. But opioids block pain, eliminating this important signal. They are, also, dangerous. Prescription opioid overdoses kill more than 14,000 people annually. So, there is a great need to find safe and effective ways to lower the psychological distress and improve the patient’s ability to cope with the pain.

 

Pain is both physical and mental, affected by damage to the body but also by the mind. The perception of pain can be amplified by the emotional reactions to it and also by attempts to fight or counteract it. Pain perception can be reduced by aerobic exercise and mental states, including placebo effects, attention, and conditioning. Additionally, mindfulness has been shown to reduce both chronic and acute pain. Importantly, mindfulness training is safe. So, mindfulness training may be an effective treatment to be used in combination with other treatments for chronic pain. Hence, it is important to study mindfulness practice effects on chronic pain and the psychological distress it produces.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5368208/?report=classic

Hilton and colleagues review and summarize the published research literature on the application of mindfulness training to treating chronic pain, pain lasting more than 3 months. They identified 38 randomized controlled trials that compared the effectiveness of mindfulness training to treatment as usual, support groups, education, stress management, or waitlist controls. They found that the published research reported small but significant reductions in pain after mindfulness training that were still present 3 months later. They also reported significant improvements in depression and quality of life.

 

Hence, the up-to-date research literature suggests that mindfulness training is a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain., both reducing the pain itself as well as depression and the pain produced impairments in quality of life. In general, they found that the studies tended to be of low quality. So, better designed studies are still needed. It is not known exactly how mindfulness training may reduce pain. But, it is suspected that it changes the mental components of pain improving emotional regulation, including reducing anxiety and worry about pain. This reduces the mind’s amplification of pain. Importantly, it still leaves the signal of pain intact. So, the individual, can respond to the pain adaptively, reducing further physical damage.

 

So, improve chronic pain with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness soothes the circuits that amplify …  In effect, mindfulness teaches you how to turn down the volume control on your pain. And as you do so, any anxiety, stress and depression that you may be feeling begins to melt away too. Your body can then relax and begin to heal.” – Danny Penman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Hilton, L., Hempel, S., Ewing, B. A., Apaydin, E., Xenakis, L., Newberry, S., … Maglione, M. A. (2017). Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51(2), 199–213. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-016-9844-2

 

Abstract

Background

Chronic pain patients increasingly seek treatment through mindfulness meditation.

Purpose

This study aims to synthesize evidence on efficacy and safety of mindfulness meditation interventions for the treatment of chronic pain in adults.

Method

We conducted a systematic review on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with meta-analyses using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random-effects models. Quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. Outcomes included pain, depression, quality of life, and analgesic use.

Results

Thirty-eight RCTs met inclusion criteria; seven reported on safety. We found low-quality evidence that mindfulness meditation is associated with a small decrease in pain compared with all types of controls in 30 RCTs. Statistically significant effects were also found for depression symptoms and quality of life.

Conclusions

While mindfulness meditation improves pain and depression symptoms and quality of life, additional well-designed, rigorous, and large-scale RCTs are needed to decisively provide estimates of the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for chronic pain.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5368208/?report=classic

 

 

Improve Mental Health with On-line Mindfulness Training

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Improve Mental Health with On-line Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness meditation is known to improve symptoms of many physical and mental health conditions. However, the group settings in which mindfulness meditation typically is taught can be problematic for many participants, either because of inconvenient scheduling or because people are averse to sharing in public.” – eMindful

 

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving the physical and psychological condition of otherwise healthy people and also treating the physical and psychological issues of people with illnesses and particularly with the physical and psychological reactions to stress. Techniques such as Mindfulness Training, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as well as Yoga practice and Tai Chi or Qigong practice have been demonstrated to be effective. This has led to an increasing adoption of these mindfulness techniques for the health and well-being of both healthy and ill individuals.

 

The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a certified trained therapist. This produces costs that many clients can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with their busy schedules. As a result, there has been attempts to develop on-line mindfulness training programs. These have tremendous advantages in decreasing costs and making training schedules much more flexible. But, the question arises as to whether these programs are as effective as their traditional counterparts. Many believe that the presence of a therapist is a crucial component to the success of the programs and the lack of an active therapist in on-line programs may greatly reduce their effectiveness.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Efficacy of Internet-Based Mindfulness Training and Cognitive-Behavioral Training With Telephone Support in the Enhancement of Mental Health Among College Students and Young Working Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5382258/

Mak and colleagues recruited college students and young working adults and randomly assigned them to receive an 8-week on-line therapy program of either mindfulness training or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aimed at improving physical and psychological health. Treatments were delivered in 8, 30-45 minute, on-line modules and included home practice. To help insurance compliance, all participants were phoned weekly by a trained treatment support specialist to answer questions and encourage compliance. They completed measurements before and after training and 3 months later of mental well-being, psychological distress, satisfaction with life, energy, sleep, pain, and their expectancies regarding the treatments.

 

They found that both the on-line mindfulness training and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy groups showed significant improvements in mental well-being, psychological distress, satisfaction with life, energy, sleep, and pain after training that was maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Hence, they did not find a difference between the therapies with participants in both groups showing significant improvements in mental and physical health.

 

The weakness of the study is that regardless of treatment all participants improved and there was not a no-treatment control condition. So, it is impossible to determine if the results were due to the therapy or to a placebo effect, the passage of time, experimenter bias, etc. In other words, it is clear that the participants improved but it is not clear that the therapies were responsible.

 

On the other hand, the strength of the study is that it involved therapies implemented on-line. This allows for widespread, inexpensive, and convenient distribution of the treatment programs thereby opening up treatment to individuals who live in remote areas, cannot afford traditional therapist led treatment, or do not have the time to come repeatedly to a clinic during the workday. In addition, the study found benefits to the physical and mental health of otherwise healthy young adults. So, the treatment is not just for the sick, but also produces benefits for the healthy.

 

So, improve mental health with on-line mindfulness training.

 

“there is emerging evidence that online MBIs have the potential to improve mental health outcomes, most notably stress.” – M.P.J. Spijkerman

 

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Winnie WS Mak, Floria HN Chio, Amy TY Chan, Wacy WS Lui, Ellery KY Wu. The Efficacy of Internet-Based Mindfulness Training and Cognitive-Behavioral Training With Telephone Support in the Enhancement of Mental Health Among College Students and Young Working Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Mar; 19(3): e84. Published online 2017 Mar 22. doi: 10.2196/jmir.6737

 

Abstract

Background

College students and working adults are particularly vulnerable to stress and other mental health problems, and mental health promotion and prevention are needed to promote their mental health. In recent decades, mindfulness-based training has demonstrated to be efficacious in treating physical and psychological conditions.

Objective

The aim of our study was to examine the efficacy of an Internet-based mindfulness training program (iMIND) in comparison with the well-established Internet-based cognitive-behavioral training program (iCBT) in promoting mental health among college students and young working adults.

Methods

This study was a 2-arm, unblinded, randomized controlled trial comparing iMIND with iCBT. Participants were recruited online and offline via mass emails, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, announcement and leaflets in primary care clinics, and social networking sites. Eligible participants were randomized into either the iMIND (n=604) or the iCBT (n=651) condition. Participants received 8 Web-based sessions with information and exercises related to mindfulness or cognitive-behavioral principles. Telephone or email support was provided by trained first tier supporters who were supervised by the study’s research team. Primary outcomes included mental and physical health-related measures, which were self-assessed online at preprogram, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up.

Results

Among the 1255 study participants, 213 and 127 completed the post- and 3-month follow-up assessment, respectively. Missing data were treated using restricted maximum likelihood estimation. Both iMIND (n=604) and iCBT (n=651) were efficacious in improving mental health, psychological distress, life satisfaction, sleep disturbance, and energy level.

Conclusions

Both Internet-based mental health programs showed potential in improving the mental health from pre- to postassessment, and such improvement was sustained at the 3-month follow-up. The high attrition rate in this study suggests the need for refinement in future technology-based psychological programs. Mental health professionals need to team up with experts in information technology to increase personalization of Web-based interventions to enhance adherence.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5382258/

Reduce Grief with Mindfulness

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Reduce Grief with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Releasing the grief we carry is a long, tear-filled process. Yet it follows the natural intelligence of the body and heart. Trust it, trust the unfolding. Along with meditation, some of your grief will want to be written, to be cried out, to be sung, to be danced. Let the timeless wisdom within you carry you through grief to an open heart.” – Jack Kornfield

 

Grief is a normal, albeit complex, process that follows a loss of a significant person or situation in one’s life. This can involve the death of a loved one, a traumatic experience, termination of a relationship, loss of employment etc. Exactly what transpires depends upon the individual and the nature of the loss. It involves physical, emotional, psychological and cognitive processes. Not everyone grieves in the same way but there have been identified four general stages of grief, shock and denial, intense concern, despair and depression, and recovery. These are normal and healthy. But, in about 15% of people grief can be overly intense or long and therapeutic intervention may become necessary.

 

A stillbirth can be a devastating loss as the joyous anticipation of a new baby is replaced by a death. This can produce intense mental challenges. Mindfulness training is known to help with coping with emotions and stress, and is very effective for depression. Hence, mindfulness training may be helpful in coping with the grief following a stillbirth. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-based Intervention for Perinatal Grief Education and Reduction among Poor Women in Chhattisgarh, India: a Pilot Study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367631/

Roberts and Montgomery recruited women, aged 18 to 35 years, in rural India who had a history of stillbirth. They provided them with a one session per week for 5-weeks of mindfulness training based upon Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This included meditation, body scanning, and yoga practices and had additional education materials on risk factors for stillbirth and prevention strategies. The women were measured before and after the intervention and 6-weeks later for grief, anxiety and depression symptoms, satisfaction with life, religious coping, social support, and mindfulness. During the 6-week follow up period the women practiced daily at home.

 

They found, not surprisingly, that at baseline the women had clinically significant levels of anxiety, depression, and grief. After the mindfulness training, there were significant improvements in grief, anxiety and depression, religious coping, and the mindfulness facets of describe and acting with awareness. Hence the mindfulness training appeared to increase mindfulness and help relieve some of the psychological consequences of having a stillbirth. This could be important as the grief and depression after stillbirth can be severe. Relieving these consequences may be very helpful to the women learning to cope with and move past their tragic loss.

 

These are encouraging results, but must be viewed as preliminary pilot data. There was no control condition so, there are a large number of possible other explanations for the results including placebo effects, attentional effects, experimenter bias, etc. The data do support, however, conducting a larger randomize controlled clinical trial. Such research could lead to mindfulness training being used to assist in coping with loss and grief.

 

So, reduce grief with mindfulness.

 

“Mindful grieving informs us to allow ourselves to feel what is there, without judgment. For me, there was sadness there and I needed to nonjudgmentally acknowledge it, feel it, and let it be. It was important in that moment that I didn’t resist it or strive to make it any different, but just feel it as it was. Ronald Pies, M.D. wrote to us, “Having problems means being alive”, and I’d add “Being alive, means grieving loved ones who pass.” Grief is a natural part of the human experience.” – Elisha Goldstein

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Roberts, L., & Montgomery, S. (2016). Mindfulness-based Intervention for Perinatal Grief Education and Reduction among Poor Women in Chhattisgarh, India: a Pilot Study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development, 2(1), 1.

 

Abstract

Introduction

Stillbirth is a significant public health problem in low-to-middle-income countries and results in perinatal grief, often with negative psychosocial impact. In low-resource settings, such as Chhattisgarh, India, where needs are high, it is imperative to utilize low-cost, effective interventions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an empirically sound intervention that has been utilized for a broad range of physical and mental health problems, and is adaptable to specific populations. The main objective of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a shortened, culturally adapted mindfulness-based intervention to address complex grief after stillbirth.

Methods

We used an observational, pre-post-6-week post study design. The study instrument was made up of descriptive demographic questions and validated scales and was administered as a structured interview due to low literacy rates. We used a community participatory approach to culturally adapt the five-week mindfulness-based intervention and delivered it through two trained local nurses. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses explored study outcomes as well as acceptability and feasibility of the intervention.

Results

29 women with a history of stillbirth enrolled, completed the pretest and began the intervention; 26 completed the five-week intervention and post-test (89.7%), and 23 completed the six-week follow-up assessment (88.5%). Pretest results included elevated psychological symptoms and high levels of perinatal grief, including the active grief, difficulty coping, and despair subscales. General linear modeling repeated measures was used to explore posttest and six-week follow up changes from baseline, controlling for significantly correlated demographic variables. These longitudinal results included significant reduction in psychological symptoms; four of the five facets of mindfulness changed in the desired direction, two significantly; as well as significant reduction in overall perinatal grief and on each of the three subscales.

Discussion

The shortened, culturally adapted, mindfulness-based intervention pilot study was well received and had very low attrition. We also found significant reductions of perinatal grief and mental health symptoms over time, as well as a high degree of practice of mindfulness skills by participants. This study not only sheds light on the tremendous mental health needs among rural women of various castes who have experienced stillbirth in Chhattisgarh, it also points to a promising effective intervention with potential to be taken to scale for wider delivery.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367631/

Improve Health with Qigong

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Improve Health with Qigong

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Qigong is an ancient Chinese system of exercise and meditation that makes the mind and spirit tranquil, improves performance in sports, and cultivates health, well-being, and long life.” – Annie Bond

 

Qigong and Tai Chi have been practiced for thousands of years with benefits for health and longevity. Qigong and Tai Chi trainings are designed to enhance function and regulate the activities of the body through controlled breathing, mindful concentration, and gentle movements. Only recently though have the effects of these practices been scrutinized with empirical research. This research has found that they are effective for an array of physical and psychological issues. They appear to strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation and increase the number of cancer killing cells in the bloodstream, improve cardiovascular health, reduce arthritis pain, improve balance and reduce falls. They also appear to improve attentional ability and relieve depression.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5359459/

Zou and colleagues review the published research literature on the effects of one particular Qigong practice, Baduanjin Qigong, on health.  Baduanjin Qigong involves only 8 simple movements and “is characterized by interplay between symmetrical physical postures and movements, mind, and breathing exercise in a harmonious manner.” They discovered 19 published randomized controlled trials employing adults. About 1/3 of the participants were healthy and 2/3 were ill with a variety of diseases including “type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, knee osteoarthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome-like illness.”

 

The published research revealed that Baduanjin Qigong produced significant improvements in quality of life (6 studies), sleep quality (6 studies), balance (6 studies), handgrip strength (5 studies), trunk and hip flexibility (4 studies), leg power (2 studies), walking performance (2 studies), systolic and diastolic blood pressures (9 studies), respiratory efficiency (6 studies), and cardiorespiratory endurance (4 studies). The small number of studies (2) that measured leg power and walking performance makes conclusions about these improvements tentative. But, the rest of the improvements would appear to be solid findings of a magnitude to be considered of clinical significance.

 

These are exciting results. The range of different areas of physical improvement produced by Baduanjin Qigong and the range of illnesses improved are impressive. Since, this ancient gentle practice is completely safe, can be used with the elderly and sickly, is inexpensive to administer, can be performed in groups or alone, at home or in a facility or even public park, and can be quickly learned as only 8 movements are involved, it would appear to be an excellent treatment for sickly individuals, especially the elderly. It remains to be seen how effective Baduanjin Qigong might be for mental and emotional problems.

 

So, improve health with qigong.

 

“Sometimes Qigong and Tai Chi are called a moving meditation in which the mind and body are led to a state of balance and equilibrium also known as homeostasis. A Harvard medical publication said it should also be called “moving medication.” The advantages of improving strength, flexibility and balance are pretty obvious but the advantages of peace that comes from the moving flowing meditative aspect of Qigong and Tai Chi are equally important.” – Denise Nagel

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Zou, L., SasaKi, J. E., Wang, H., Xiao, Z., Fang, Q., & Zhang, M. (2017). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM, 2017, 4548706. http://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4548706

 

Abstract

Objective. To investigate the effects of practicing Baduanjin Qigong on different health outcomes. Methods. Six electronic databases were used for literature search through entering the following key words: Baduanjin Qigong, quality of life, sleep quality, and health-related outcomes. Results. Nineteen randomized controlled trials were used for meta-analysis. The aggregated results from this systematic review have shown significant benefits in favour of Baduanjin Qigong on quality of life (SMD, −0.75; 95% CI −1.26 to −0.24; P = 0.004), sleep quality (SMD, −0.55; 95% CI −0.97 to −0.12; P = 0.01), balance (SMD, −0.94; 95% CI −1.59 to 0.30; P = 0.004), handgrip strength (SMD, −0.69; 95% CI −1.2 to −0.19; P = 0.007), trunk flexibility (SMD, −0.66; 95% CI −1.13 to −0.19; P = 0.006), systolic (SMD, −0.60; 95% CI −0.94 to −0.27; P = 0.0004) and diastolic blood pressure (SMD, −0.46; 95% CI −0.73 to −0.20; P = 0.0005), and resting heart rate (SMD, −0.87; 95% CI −1.47 to −0.27; P = 0.005). The aggregated results of meta-analyses examining the effect of Baduanjin Qigong on leg power, cardiopulmonary endurance, and pulmonary function remain unclear because of a small number of studies. Conclusions. The aggregated results from this systematic review show that Baduanjin Qigong practice is beneficial for quality of life, sleep quality, balance, handgrip strength, trunk flexibility, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate. Further studies are necessary to confirm the effects of Baduanjin Qigong on leg power, cardiopulmonary endurance, and pulmonary function (e.g., vital capacity), while considering a long-term follow-up.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5359459/

Mindful Motherhood

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Mindful Motherhood

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“There could not be a better time to learn mindfulness than during pregnancy and early motherhood. For one thing, this is a time when most people have a strong motivation to become the best person they can be in a relatively short period of time. When you realize the full enormity of the responsibility you have taken on by becoming a mom, the primary source of care for another whole human being, not to mention one that you love more than you thought you could ever love, there is a really high level of motivation to try your best to get yourself into the best mental and emotional shape possible.” – Cassandra Vieten

 

Mothers’ Day was basically invented and promoted by the greeting card and florist industries. But, even though its origins were crass, the idea took off, because it hit upon a truth; that we all love our mothers. As a result, Mothers’ Day has become a culturally accepted and encouraged time for the celebration of motherhood and all that it means. The deep bonds and love that virtually everyone feels for their mothers and their mothers for them fuels the celebration of the holiday.

 

Motherhood is ubiquitous. Everyone has a mother, who in turn, has had a mother, who has had a mother, etc. Many are, or want to be mothers. It plays an immensely important role in our individual and societal existence. The bond that develops between mother and child is a beautiful, virtually unbreakable, thing, perhaps the strongest bond between individuals that exists. It is essential for ensuring the nurturance that is mandatory for the life of the virtually helpless infant and the development of the child. The effectiveness, or lack thereof, of mothering has a major impact on the offspring that continue throughout their lives.

 

Motherhood is such an important role that it seems reasonable to explore what goes into successful mothering and child rearing and what might be of assistance in improving mothering. There has accumulated a tremendous amount of scientific evidence that mindfulness, (“awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally”) can be an important asset for mothers, from conception, to pregnancy, birth, nurturing the infant, and childrearing and the mindfulness of the child can be an important asset for its development. So, on this day celebrating motherhood, we’ll explore the role of mindfulness.

 

Mothering does not occur in a vacuum. It’s been said that “It takes a village” to rear a child. Indeed, motherhood is embedded in a community. There are many people who are either directly or indirectly involved, from the father, to the extended family, the community, the medical profession, teachers, clergy, social workers, childcare workers, and even the government. So relationships become an essential part of mothering from conception, to birth, and family and social life. Mindfulness has been found to be important to becoming a mother in the first place. Mindfulness makes the individual more attractive to the opposite sex, it improves sexual relationships, it helps to relieve infertility, and it improves relationships in general. All of which underscores the importance of mindfulness in improving the likelihood that conception will occur and that childbirth will be born into a supportive social context.

 

Mindfulness continues to be helpful during pregnancy. It can help to relieve the anxiety and depression that commonly accompany pregnancy and even appears to benefit the neurocognitive development of the infant. After birth mindfulness continues to be of assistance as it improves caregiving and parenting, even in the case where the child has developmental disabilities. Mindfulness not only helps the parents deal with the stresses of childrearing, but developing mindfulness in the child can be of great assistance to helping the kids develop emotionally and cognitively, develop high level thinking, develop healthy self-concepts, develop socially, deal with stress, and cope with trauma and childhood depression. It even improves the child’s psychosocial development and academic performance and grades in school. In addition, it seems to be able to assist children through the troubled times of adolescence.

 

It should be clear that mindfulness is an important component of motherhood. Why would this be so? There are a number of reasons that mindfulness helps. It reduces the psychological and physical effects of stress on the mother and let’s face it, pregnancy, birth, caring for infants and raising children can be quite stressful. Mindfulness also improves emotion regulation making the mother better able to be in touch with her emotions yet react to them adaptively and effectively. Mindfulness helps the mother maintain her health and well-being, and to recover quicker should she become ill. After all, mothers can’t take sick leave or take vacations.

 

The essential capacity developed in mindfulness training is paying much greater attention to what’s occurring in the present moment. This can be of immense help to the mother. It makes her better attuned to her child’s and to her own needs. It reduces rumination and recriminations about past mistakes. It tends to diminish the worry and anxiety about the future. It helps her to focus on what needs to be done now, making her much more effective. And it helps her to experience the joys of motherhood to their fullest. In general, by focusing on now, she is tuned into the only time that matters for herself or her child, improving her relationship with reality, dealing with its problems and relishing its wonders.

 

Hence, mindfulness can make mothering better and happier, both for the mother, and the child. So, on this important day of celebration of mothers, let’s adopt mindfulness and make it a part of our relationship with our mothers and our children. We may all love our mothers but we love mindful mothers even more especially when we ourselves are mindful.

 

“For me, the program gave me the freedom to be the kind of mom I wanted to be, instead of just reacting automatically. I still have difficult moments, and can get stressed out, but the mindfulness helps me stay centered and stay connected to myself and my baby.” – Cassandra Vieten

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Maintain a Yoga Practice to Improve Absences due to Back Pain

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Maintain a Yoga Practice to Improve Absences due to Back Pain

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“For people with lower back pain, stretching is very important. For example, stretching the hamstring muscles (in the back of the thigh) helps expand the motion in the pelvis, decreasing stress across the lower back. In addition, stretching with yoga increases blood flow, allowing nutrients to flow in, toxins to flow out, and overall nourishment of the muscles and soft tissues in the lower back.” – Fred Busch

 

Low Back Pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects between 6% to 15% of the population. It is estimated, however, that 80% of the population will experience back pain sometime during their lives. The pain interferes with daily living and with work, interfering with productivity and creating absences. There are varied treatments for low back pain including chiropractic care, acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, surgery, opiate pain killing drugs, steroid injections, and muscle relaxant drugs. These therapies are sometimes effective particularly for acute back pain. But, for chronic conditions the treatments are less effective and often require continuing treatment for years and opiate pain killers are dangerous and can lead to abuse, addiction, and fatal overdoses. Obviously, there is a need for safe and effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects.

 

Pain involves both physical and psychological issues. Physically, exercise can be helpful in strengthening the back to prevent or relieve pain. Psychologically, the stress, fear, and anxiety produced by pain tends to elicit responses that actually amplify the pain. So, reducing the emotional reactions to pain may be helpful in pain management. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve emotion regulation producing more adaptive and less maladaptive responses to emotions. Indeed, mindfulness practices are effective in treating pain and have been shown to be safe and effective in the management of low back pain. Yoga practice is both an exercise and a mindfulness practice which has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits, including relief of chronic pain and relief of chronic low-back pain.  So, it makes sense to further explore the effectiveness of exercise and yoga practice for chronic low back pain.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of yoga, strength training and advice on back pain: a randomized controlled trial.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5372262/

Brämberg and colleagues recruited adult patients with non-disabling low back pain and randomly assigned them to a strength training exercise, kundalini yoga, or evidence-based education group. Strength training consisted of six weeks of 60-minute supervised strength training with encouragement to practice at least twice weekly at home. Kundalini yoga training consisted of six weeks of 60-minute supervised yoga sessions with meditations, breathing, and posture practice, with encouragement to practice at least twice weekly at home.  Evidence-based education consisted of readings that encourage strategies for self-care, information on medication, sick leave and strategies for managing pain. All participants were measured before and after training and 6 and 12 months later for back and neck pain, absences from work, going to work in pain, and adherence to treatment.

 

They found that yoga had a significantly lower drop-out rate suggesting that it was better liked and tolerated than strength training or education. In addition, neck disability was significantly lower in the yoga and strength training groups than the education group, while back pain was significantly improved in the strength training group. Overall there were no significant group differences in absences from work. But, when the groups were separated into participants who adhered to the recommendations and exercised at least twice a week after training and those who practiced less, the adhering groups had significantly fewer absences, greater than 40% fewer, than the education group or the low adherence participants.

 

These are interesting results and suggest that exercise is helpful with low back pain and its consequences for work life. Yoga practice did not appear to produce superior results to strength training for pain or absences. This suggests that the exercise component of yoga practice is what is effective. But, yoga appeared to be preferred and better tolerated as fewer participants dropped out. The results also clearly indicate that continued practice is crucial. No matter what the exercise practice was, it had to be continued after active training in order to continue being effective.

 

So, maintain a yoga practice to improve absences due to back pain.

 

“And in a new, nationally representative survey from the Consumer Reports National Research Center of more than 3,500 adults, yoga (and tai chi, or the like) was helpful to almost 90 percent of the back-pain suffers who tried it. In comparison, 75 percent of people who saw a physical therapist and 64 percent who saw a primary care doctor said the advice or treatment they received gave them relief.” – Consumer Reports

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Brämberg, E. B., Bergström, G., Jensen, I., Hagberg, J., & Kwak, L. (2017). Effects of yoga, strength training and advice on back pain: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 18, 132. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-017-1497-1

 

Abstract

Background

Among the working population, non-specific low-back pain and neck pain are one of the most common reasons for sickness absenteeism. The aim was to evaluate the effects of an early intervention of yoga – compared with strength training or evidence-based advice – on sickness absenteeism, sickness presenteeism, back and neck pain and disability among a working population.

Methods

A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 159 participants with predominantly (90%) chronic back and neck pain. After screening, the participants were randomized to kundalini yoga, strength training or evidence-based advice. Primary outcome was sickness absenteeism. Secondary outcomes were sickness presenteeism, back and neck pain and disability. Self-reported questionnaires and SMS text messages were completed at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 and 12 months.

Results

The results did not indicate that kundalini yoga and strength training had any statistically significant effects on the primary outcome compared with evidence-based advice. An interaction effect was found between adherence to recommendations and sickness absenteeism, indicating larger significant effects among the adherers to kundalini yoga versus evidence-based advice: RR = 0.47 (CI 0.30; 0.74, p = 0.001), strength training versus evidence-based advice: RR = 0.60 (CI 0.38; 0.96, p = 0.032). Some significant differences were also found for the secondary outcomes to the advantage of kundalini yoga and strength training.

Conclusions

Guided exercise in the forms of kundalini yoga or strength training does not reduce sickness absenteeism more than evidence-based advice alone. However, secondary analyses reveal that among those who pursue kundalini yoga or strength training at least two times a week, a significantly reduction in sickness absenteeism was found. Methods to increase adherence to treatment recommendations should be further developed and applied in exercise interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5372262/

Improve Emotional Regulation, Thereby Improving Mental Illness Symptoms, with Mindfulness

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Improve Emotional Regulation, Thereby Improving Mental Illness Symptoms, with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Through mindfulness you can learn to turn your difficult emotions into your greatest teachers and sources of strength. Instead of ‘turning away’ from pain in avoidance we can learn to gently ‘turn towards’ what we’re experiencing. We can bring a caring open attention toward the wounded parts of ourselves and make wise choices about how to respond to ourselves and to life.” – Melissa O’Brien

 

Mindfulness practice has been shown to produce improved emotion regulation. Practitioners demonstrate the ability to fully sense and experience emotions, but respond to them in more appropriate and adaptive ways. In other words, mindful people are better able to experience yet control emotions. This is a very important consequence of mindfulness. Humans are very emotional creatures and these emotions can be very pleasant, providing the spice of life. But, when they get extreme they can produce misery and even mental illness. The ability of mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation is thought to be the basis for a wide variety of benefits that mindfulness provides to mental health and the treatment of mental illness especially depression and anxiety disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Conditional Process Model of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: An Empirical Test.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5340204/

Curtiss and colleagues examine potential emotional regulation intermediaries between different facets of mindfulness and improvements in mental health. They posit that mindfulness, particularly non-reactivity, produces increased emotion regulation and this in turn produces improvements in the symptoms of mental illness, while observation interferes with emotion regulation, resulting in exacerbation of symptoms. They recruited adults who self-reported medically diagnosed mental illnesses. The participants completed on-line measures of mindfulness and emotion regulation and the symptoms of mental illness of anxiety, feeling evaluated by others, depression, obsessions, and compulsions.

 

They found that, as predicted, the higher the levels of mindful non-reactivity, the lower the levels of mental illness symptoms while the higher the levels of mindful observing, the higher the levels of symptoms. They then performed sophisticate statistical modelling to determine if the cognitive strategies of emotion regulation of suppression and reappraisal acted as intermediaries. They found that there were small effects of observing on both suppression and reappraisal but the main influence was a direct effect of observing of increasing symptoms. Non-reacting, on the other hand had a strong positive effect only on reappraisal which in turn lowered symptoms.

 

The cognitive emotion regulation strategy of suppression is a dampening maladaptive strategy involving attempts to inhibit unwanted thoughts or outward displays of emotion. Enhancing suppression is maladaptive and ineffective and results in heightened symptoms of mental illness. Only the mindfulness facet of observing increases suppression. Observing is an attentional process. It may heighten suppression by making the individual more aware of the symptoms, eliciting attempts to keep them in check. But, this is counterproductive, actually making things worse.

 

On the other hand, the cognitive emotion regulation strategy of reappraisal is an augmenting adaptive emotion regulation strategy, involving developing alternative or benign interpretations of a stressful situation to reduce distress. Reappraisal is particularly effective for people with mental illnesses in that these individuals often have interpretations of situations that reinforce and exacerbate the illness. Enhancing reappraisal, then, is adaptive, especially for people with mental illnesses, resulting in a lessening of the symptoms of mental illness. The mindfulness characteristic of non-reacting strongly increases reappraisal and thereby lessens symptoms. Non-reacting involves refraining from responding to emotions or thoughts in a reactive manner. This allows for reappraisal and thereby symptom improvement.

 

The study’s results are very interesting and support a model of an indirect effect of the mindfulness facet of non-reacting; improving the symptoms of mental illness by encouraging reappraisal. On the other hand, the mindfulness facet of observing makes symptoms worse directly and by increasing the maladaptive suppression strategy. Hence, the results suggest that mindfulness training should focus on non-reacting and minimize observing to improve mental health.

 

So, improve emotional regulation, thereby improving mental illness symptoms, with mindfulness.

 

“When we build awareness, such as through the practice of mindfulness, we notice our emotions more clearly and with less resistance. We recognize our mental habits and actively choose to leave things alone for a moment instead. ‘I’m in a bad mood, it’s not my fault or anyone else’s, and it will pass.’” – Mark Bertin

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Curtiss, J., Klemanski, D. H., Andrews, L., Ito, M., & Hofmann, S. G. (2017). The Conditional Process Model of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: An Empirical Test. Journal of Affective Disorders, 212, 93–100. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.01.027

 

Abstract

Background

The conditional process model (CPM) of mindfulness and emotion regulation posits that specific mediators and moderators link these constructs to mental health outcomes. The current study empirically examined the central tenets of the CPM, which posit that nonreactivity moderates the indirect effect of observation on symptoms of emotional disorders through cognitive emotion regulation strategies.

Methods

A clinical sample (n=1667) of individuals from Japan completed a battery of self-report instruments. Several path analyses were conducted to determine whether cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between observation and symptoms of individual emotional disorders, and to determine whether nonreactivity moderated these indirect effects.

Results

Results provided support the CPM. Specifically, nonreactivity moderated the indirect effect of observation on symptoms through reappraisal, but it did not moderate the indirect effect of observation on symptoms through suppression.

Limitations

Causal interpretations are limited, and cultural considerations must be acknowledged given the Japanese sample

Conclusions

These results underscore the potential importance of nonreactivity and emotion regulation as targets for interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5340204/

Improve Emotional Reactivity and Stress Responding with Mindfulness

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Improve Emotional Reactivity and Stress Responding with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“There are moments in life that are hard, painful, scary and difficult to endure. There are times when we feel anger, anxiety, grief, embarrassment, stress, remorse or other negative emotions. Through mindfulness you can learn to turn your negative emotions into your greatest teachers and sources of strength.” – Melli O’Brien

 

Mindfulness practice has been shown to produce improved emotion regulation. Practitioners demonstrate the ability to fully sense and experience emotions, but respond to them in more appropriate and adaptive ways. In other words, mindful people are better able to experience yet control emotions and not overreact to them. This is a very important consequence of mindfulness. Humans are very emotional creatures and these emotions can be very pleasant, providing the spice of life. But, when they get extreme they can produce misery and even mental illness. The ability of mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation is thought to be the basis for a wide variety of benefits that mindfulness provides to mental health and the treatment of mental illness especially depression and anxiety disorders.

 

Stress is an integral part of life. In fact, I’ve quipped that the definition of death is when stress ceases. People often think of stress as a bad thing. But, it is in fact essential to the health of the body. If we don’t have any stress, we call it boredom. In fact, we invest time and resources in stressing ourselves, e.g. ridding rollercoasters, sky diving, competing in sports, etc. If stress, is high or is prolonged, however, it can be problematic. It can damage our physical and mental health and even reduce our longevity, leading to premature deaths. So, it is important that we employ methods to either reduce or control our responses to it. Mindfulness practices have been found routinely to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress.

 

Mindfulness practices improve physiological and psychological responses to stress and also improve emotional reactivity. In today’s Research News article “Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831864/

Feldman and colleagues examine the relationships between mindfulness, emotional reactivity, and stress responses in two experiments employing female undergraduate students. In the first experiment, they measured the students’ mindfulness and the levels of negative emotions. They were then required to complete a very stressful difficult laboratory task (mirror tracing) during which heart rate was measured as an indication of the physiological effects of stress. After completing the task, they were again measured for negative emotions. They found that mindfulness moderated the effect of physiological stress (heart rate) on negative emotions such that with low levels of mindfulness high physiological stress produced high negative emotions while at high levels of mindfulness there was no increase in negative emotions. So, “dispositional mindfulness was found to uncouple the association between degree of physiological arousal and subjective distress.”

 

In the second experiment, a new group of female students were measured for mindfulness and then completed measures daily of negative emotions and executive function lapses, things such as “I procrastinated on an important task,” “I forgot to do an important task.” “I had difficulty motivating myself,” “I was late for something important” and “I said something to someone that I later regretted.“ They found that on days when mindfulness was high negative emotions tended to be low. In addition, they found that mindfulness moderated the effect of executive function lapses on negative emotions such that with low levels of mindfulness executive function lapses produced high negative emotions while at high levels of mindfulness there was no increase in negative emotions.

 

These findings suggest that mindfulness uncouples the associations between degree of either physiological arousal or executive function lapses and negative emotions. This further suggests that being high in mindfulness is associated with a greater ability for emotional regulation, lowering emotional reactivity in the face of either physiological or psychological stress. This is another interesting example of how mindfulness improves the individual’s ability to cope effectively with stress and regulate their emotions. This should have ramifications for improving the individual’s physical and mental health.

 

So, improve emotional reactivity and stress responding with mindfulness.

 

“Then I see what is happening. Ah, agitation is here. By making time for meditation, I get to more consciously connect with myself and my state of being, and I realize that my sense of urgency is actually fuelled from a physical state of tension and stress.” – Elise Bialylew

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are a also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Feldman, G., Lavalle, J., Gildawie, K., & Greeson, J. M. (2016). Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life. Mindfulness, 7(2), 527–541. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0487-3

 

Abstract

Both dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness training may help to uncouple the degree to which distress is experienced in response to aversive internal experience and external events. Because emotional reactivity is a transdiagnostic process implicated in numerous psychological disorders, dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness training could exert mental health benefits, in part, by buffering emotional reactivity. The present studies examine whether dispositional mindfulness moderates two understudied processes in stress reactivity research: the degree of concordance between subjective and physiological reactivity to a laboratory stressor (Study 1); and the degree of dysphoric mood reactivity to lapses in executive functioning in daily life (Study 2). In both studies, lower emotional reactivity to aversive experiences was observed among individuals scoring higher in mindfulness, particularly non-judging, relative to those scoring lower in mindfulness. These findings support the hypothesis that higher dispositional mindfulness fosters lower emotional reactivity. Results are discussed in terms of implications for applying mindfulness-based interventions to a range of psychological disorders in which people have difficulty regulating emotional reactions to stress.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831864/