Mindfulness

Improve College Student Psychological Well-Being with Online Mindfulness Training

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Improve College Student Psychological Well-Being with Online Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Student life can be stressful, but that doesn’t mean students have to let stress take over their lives. By incorporating mindfulness and meditation into daily routines, students can not only relieve stress, but also improve their memory, focus and ultimately their grades.” – Affordable Colleges

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. There is a lot of pressure on college students to excel so that they can get the best jobs after graduation. The pressure can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression which can impede the student’s mental health, well-being, and school performance. But it is, for the most part, beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress, so it is important that methods be found to reduce the college students’ responses to stress; to make them more resilient when high levels of stress occur.

 

Contemplative practices including meditation, mindfulness training, exercise, Tai Chi and Qigong, and yoga practice have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress, relieve anxiety, and reduce depression  Most mindfulness trainings, however, require a trained teacher. The participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with busy student schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. Online mindfulness trainings have tremendous advantages in decreasing costs, making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. So, it would seem important to examine whether brief online mindfulness training can relieve stress and improve the psychological well-being of college students.

 

In today’s Research News article “An Evaluation of an Online Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Higher Education: A Pilot Conducted at an Australian University and a British University.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.752060/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A ) Chung and colleagues recruited college students and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to receive a 6 or 12 week online mindfulness training. They were measured before and after the intervention for mental well-being, perceived stress, and mindfulness.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control condition after mindfulness training the students had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and mental well-being and lower levels of perceived stress. Mindfulness training has been repeatedly found with a variety of groups to reduce stress and improve well-being. So, the present results are not surprising. But the results clearly demonstrate that online mindfulness training significantly improves the psychological well-being of college students.

 

So, improve college student psychological well-being with online mindfulness training.

 

“Being mindful makes it easier to savor the pleasures in life as they occur, helps you become fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater capacity to deal with adverse events,” – Abby Fortin

 

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

 

Chung J, Mundy ME, Hunt I, Coxon A, Dyer KR and McKenzie S (2021) An Evaluation of an Online Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Higher Education: A Pilot Conducted at an Australian University and a British University. Front. Psychol. 12:752060. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.752060

 

Mental ill health among higher education students is a well-established problem; therefore, it is imperative to implement preventative approaches to support wellbeing. Blended and fully online education programmes widens access for mature or returning students; however, the psychological wellbeing of this sub-group of students is under-researched. Finally, evaluating wellbeing interventions that meet the needs of university students as well as accessible for online students is required. The aim of this study was to evaluate a brief, online and mindfulness-based intervention to assist the self-management of wellbeing and stress for both online and on-campus higher education students. The total sample included 427 participants (96% psychology students) at Monash University, Australia (n=283) and King’s College London (n=144), with 152 participants completing the whole study. Participants were allocated to a brief, self-guided, online and mindfulness-based intervention (over the course of one study period; n=297), or to a wait-list control group (n=148). Baseline and end of semester questionnaires included the 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, 10-item Perceived Stress Scale and the 15-item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Regression modelling revealed the intervention condition accounted for up to 12% of the variability in change in student wellbeing, stress and mindfulness between the start and end of semester (when controlling for baseline). These findings support the implementation of a brief, online and asynchronous mindfulness-based intervention for supporting student mental health and psychological wellbeing. An on-going challenge in practice includes engaging and maintaining student engagement in wellbeing initiatives.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.752060/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A

 

Meditation Effects on Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation are Associated with Changes in Brain Activity

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Meditation Effects on Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation are Associated with Changes in Brain Activity

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the meditation intervention had large varying effects on EEG spectra, . . Findings suggest that brief guided meditation intervention may offer positive and immediate health benefits to help combat stress.” – Peta Stapleton

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. There are several ways that meditation practices produce these benefits, including changes to the brain and physiology. One way to observe the effects of meditation on neural activity is to measure changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG), the rhythmic electrical activity that can be recorded from the scalp.

 

The recorded activity can be separated into frequency bands. Delta activity consists of oscillations in the 0.5-3 cycles per second band. Theta activity in the EEG consists of oscillations in the 4-8 cycles per second band. Alpha activity consists of oscillations in the 8-12 cycles per second band. Beta activity consists of oscillations in the 15-25 cycles per second band while Gamma activity occurs in the 35-45 cycles per second band. There needs to be further research on how changes in brain activity progress a meditation practice develops.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Training Associated With Resting-State Electroencephalograms Dynamics in Novice Practitioners via Mindful Breathing and Body-Scan.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A ) Ng and colleagues recruited meditation naive healthy adults and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to receive 8 weekly 2,5 hour sessions of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The intervention consisted of meditation, body scan, and yoga along with group discussion and home practice. Before and after the 8-week program they were measured for mindfulness and emotion regulation and underwent simultaneous brain scanning with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and brain electrical activity measurement with electroencephalogram (EEG). The scanning occurred with 5-minute epochs of rest, mindful breathing, body scan, and rest during which they were asked to press a button whenever their mind wandered.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group the group that received Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) had significantly greater levels of mindfulness and emotion regulation. In the electroencephalogram (EEG) after MBSR training there were significant increases in power in the beta and gamma bands and decreases in the delta band in the frontal and parietal cortex regardless of condition. They also found that in comparison to the resting condition during body scan the MBSR group had significantly lower power in the delta, beta, and gamma bands. Changes in the EEG powers were significantly related to changes in mindfulness and emotion regulation.

 

The present results are similar to previous findings that mindfulness training produces significant improvements in mindfulness and emotion regulation. But the present findings are unique in showing that these changes are associated with changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) produced by mindfulness training. Since the participants were meditation naïve at the beginning, these findings document how mindfulness training may produce its benefits. They suggest that mindfulness training alters brain processing increasing spectral power in the brain and this produces changes in psychological processes.

 

Hence, meditation effects on mindfulness and emotion regulation are associated with changes in brain activity.

 

“Many studies on mindfulness meditation have linked lower frequency alpha waves, as well as theta waves, to meditation.” – Wikipedia

 

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/

They are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Ng H-YH, Wu CW, Huang F-Y, Cheng Y-T, Guu S-F, Huang C-M, Hsu C-F, Chao Y-P, Jung T-P and Chuang C-H (2021) Mindfulness Training Associated With Resting-State Electroencephalograms Dynamics in Novice Practitioners via Mindful Breathing and Body-Scan. Front. Psychol. 12:748584. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584

 

Objectives: Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been proven to improve mental health and quality of life. This study examined how mindfulness training and various types of mindfulness practices altered brain activity.

Methods: Specifically, the spectral powers of scalp electroencephalography of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) group (n=17) who underwent an 8-week MBSR training—including mindful breathing and body-scan—were evaluated and compared with those of the waitlist controls (n=14).

Results: Empirical results indicated that the post-intervention effect of MBSR significantly elevated the resting-state beta powers and reduced resting-state delta powers in both practices; such changes were not observed in the waitlist control. Compared with mindful breathing, body-scanning resulted in an overall decline in electroencephalograms (EEG) spectral powers at both delta and low-gamma bands among trained participants.

Conclusion: Together with our preliminary data of expert mediators, the aforementioned spectral changes were salient after intervention, but mitigated along with expertise. Additionally, after receiving training, the MBSR group’s mindfulness and emotion regulation levels improved significantly, which were correlated with the EEG spectral changes in the theta, alpha, and low-beta bands. The results supported that MBSR might function as a unique internal processing tool that involves increased vigilant capability and induces alterations similar to other cognitive training.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the meditation intervention had large varying effects on EEG spectra, . . Findings suggest that brief guided meditation intervention may offer positive and immediate health benefits to help combat stress.” – Peta Stapleton

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. There are several ways that meditation practices produce these benefits, including changes to the brain and physiology. One way to observe the effects of meditation on neural activity is to measure changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG), the rhythmic electrical activity that can be recorded from the scalp.

 

The recorded activity can be separated into frequency bands. Delta activity consists of oscillations in the 0.5-3 cycles per second band. Theta activity in the EEG consists of oscillations in the 4-8 cycles per second band. Alpha activity consists of oscillations in the 8-12 cycles per second band. Beta activity consists of oscillations in the 15-25 cycles per second band while Gamma activity occurs in the 35-45 cycles per second band. There needs to be further research on how changes in brain activity progress a meditation practice develops.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Training Associated With Resting-State Electroencephalograms Dynamics in Novice Practitioners via Mindful Breathing and Body-Scan.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A ) Ng and colleagues recruited meditation naive healthy adults and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to receive 8 weekly 2,5 hour sessions of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The intervention consisted of meditation, body scan, and yoga along with group discussion and home practice. Before and after the 8-week program they were measured for mindfulness and emotion regulation and underwent simultaneous brain scanning with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and brain electrical activity measurement with electroencephalogram (EEG). The scanning occurred with 5-minute epochs of rest, mindful breathing, body scan, and rest during which they were asked to press a button whenever their mind wandered.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group the group that received Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) had significantly greater levels of mindfulness and emotion regulation. In the electroencephalogram (EEG) after MBSR training there were significant increases in power in the beta and gamma bands and decreases in the delta band in the frontal and parietal cortex regardless of condition. They also found that in comparison to the resting condition during body scan the MBSR group had significantly lower power in the delta, beta, and gamma bands. Changes in the EEG powers were significantly related to changes in mindfulness and emotion regulation.

 

The present results are similar to previous findings that mindfulness training produces significant improvements in mindfulness and emotion regulation. But the present findings are unique in showing that these changes are associated with changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) produced by mindfulness training. Since the participants were meditation naïve at the beginning, these findings document how mindfulness training may produce its benefits. They suggest that mindfulness training alters brain processing increasing spectral power in the brain and this produces changes in psychological processes.

 

Hence, meditation effects on mindfulness and emotion regulation are associated with changes in brain activity.

 

“Many studies on mindfulness meditation have linked lower frequency alpha waves, as well as theta waves, to meditation.” – Wikipedia

 

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

 

Ng H-YH, Wu CW, Huang F-Y, Cheng Y-T, Guu S-F, Huang C-M, Hsu C-F, Chao Y-P, Jung T-P and Chuang C-H (2021) Mindfulness Training Associated With Resting-State Electroencephalograms Dynamics in Novice Practitioners via Mindful Breathing and Body-Scan. Front. Psychol. 12:748584. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584

 

Objectives: Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been proven to improve mental health and quality of life. This study examined how mindfulness training and various types of mindfulness practices altered brain activity.

Methods: Specifically, the spectral powers of scalp electroencephalography of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) group (n=17) who underwent an 8-week MBSR training—including mindful breathing and body-scan—were evaluated and compared with those of the waitlist controls (n=14).

Results: Empirical results indicated that the post-intervention effect of MBSR significantly elevated the resting-state beta powers and reduced resting-state delta powers in both practices; such changes were not observed in the waitlist control. Compared with mindful breathing, body-scanning resulted in an overall decline in electroencephalograms (EEG) spectral powers at both delta and low-gamma bands among trained participants.

Conclusion: Together with our preliminary data of expert mediators, the aforementioned spectral changes were salient after intervention, but mitigated along with expertise. Additionally, after receiving training, the MBSR group’s mindfulness and emotion regulation levels improved significantly, which were correlated with the EEG spectral changes in the theta, alpha, and low-beta bands. The results supported that MBSR might function as a unique internal processing tool that involves increased vigilant capability and induces alterations similar to other cognitive training.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748584/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A

Reduce Burnout and Increase Resilience in Healthcare Workers with Mindfulness

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Reduce Burnout and Increase Resilience in Healthcare Workers with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness practices and perspectives are profoundly beneficial at all levels of healthcare—from the personal to the professional to the patients.” – Mindful

 

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. In high stress occupations, like healthcare, burnout is all too prevalent. Burnout is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. It is estimated that over 45% of healthcare workers experience burnout. It not only affects the healthcare providers personally, but also the patients, as it produces a loss of empathy and compassion. Burnout, in fact, it is a threat to the entire healthcare system. Currently, over a third of healthcare workers report that they are looking for a new job. Hence, burnout contributes to the shortage of doctors and nurses.

 

Preventing burnout has to be a priority. Unfortunately, it is beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress and prevent burnout. So, it is important that methods be found to reduce the individual’s responses to stress; to make the individual more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress and improve well-being. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Novel Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Reducing Burnout and Promoting Resilience Among Healthcare Workers: Findings From a Waitlist Randomized Control Trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744443/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A ) Ho and colleagues recruited frontline healthcare workers and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to receive 6 weekly 3-hour sessions of Mindful-Compassion Art-based Therapy (MCAT). The treatment included meditation, lectures, and art therapy that was aimed at training “understanding, acceptance, and compassion for self and others to cultivate psychological resilience and shared meaning”. The participants were measured before and after training and 6 weeks later for mindfulness, burnout, resilience, emotion regulation, self-compassion, death attitude, and quality of life. Transcripts of group sharing sessions and artwork produced were also analyzed.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group after Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy (MCAT) there were significant increases in emotion regulation, non-reactivity to intrusive thoughts, acceptance of death and significant reduction in mental exhaustion. At the 6-week follow-up, they found that the improvements in emotion regulation and mental exhaustion were maintained and the MCAT group also showed significant increases in mindfulness, self-compassion, interconnectedness to others, and quality of life. Analysis of the group discussions and artwork revealed that the training worked by reducing burnout, building resilience, nurturing compassion, and fostering collegial support among healthcare workers.

 

These results are encouraging and suggest that the mindfulness-based therapy was effective in improving the psychological health and well-being and reducing burnout of healthcare workers. Prior research by others reinforce these findings as it has been shown that mindfulness training produces increases in emotion regulation, self-compassion, interconnectedness, resilience, acceptance of death. and quality of life and reductions in burnout. Hence, the present findings along with previous research suggest that mindfulness training improves the psychological health and well-being of healthcare workers making them more resistant to professional fatigue and burnout. This suggests that mindfulness training should be recommended for frontline healthcare workers.

 

So, reduce burnout and increase resilience in healthcare workers with mindfulness.

 

“mindfulness-based stress reduction was associated with significant improvements in burnout scores and mental well-being for a broad range of healthcare providers.” – Matthew Goodman

 

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

 

Ho AHY, Tan-Ho G, Ngo TA, Ong G, Chong PH, Dignadice D and Potash J (2021) A Novel Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Reducing Burnout and Promoting Resilience Among Healthcare Workers: Findings From a Waitlist Randomized Control Trial. Front. Psychol. 12:744443. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744443

 

Protecting the mental health of healthcare workers is an urgent global public health priority. Healthcare workers, especially those immersed in palliative care, are prone to burnout due to the intense emotions associated with end-of-life caregiving. This study examines the efficacy of a novel, multimodal, and group-based Mindful-Compassion Art-based Therapy (MCAT) that integrates reflective self-awareness with creative emotional expression for protecting healthcare workers’ mental health. A dual-arm open-label waitlist randomized controlled trial was conducted. A total of 56 healthcare workers were recruited from the largest homecare hospice in Singapore and randomized to the immediate-treatment condition of a standardized 6-week, 18-hours MCAT intervention (n=29), or the waitlist-control condition (n=27). Self-administered outcome measures on burnout, resilience, emotional regulation, self-compassion, death attitudes, and quality of life were collected at baseline, post-intervention/second-baseline at 6weeks, and follow-up/post-intervention at 12weeks. Results from mixed model ANOVAs reveal that treatment group participants experienced significant reduction in mental exhaustion, as well as significant improvements in overall emotional regulation, nonreactivity to intrusive thoughts, approach acceptance of death, and afterlife belief as compared to waitlist-control immediately after MCAT completion. Effect sizes of these impacts ranged from medium to large (η2=0.65 to 0.170). Results from one-way ANOVAs further reveal that the treatment gains of reduced mental exhaustion and increased emotional regulation were maintained among treatment group participants at 12-weeks follow-up compared to baseline, with new benefits identified. These include increased ability to observe and describe one’s experiences, elevated overall self-compassion, greater mindful awareness, enhanced common humanity, and better quality of life. Effect sizes of these impacts were large (η2=0.128 to 0.298). These findings reflect the robust effectiveness and positive residual effects of MCAT for reducing burnout, building resilience, nurturing compassion, fostering collegial support, and promoting mental wellness among healthcare workers. The clinical model and applicability of MCAT in larger and more diverse caregiving contexts, such as family dementia care, are discussed.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744443/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A

 

Improve Coping with Brain Injury with Mindfulness

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Improve Coping with Brain Injury with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“For many brain injury survivors, mindfulness is an essential practice that helps to regulate their mental health, mood changes, and memory.” – Headway

 

Brain damage is permanent. The neurons and neural structures that are destroyed when the brain is damaged for the most part do not regrow. Although the brain tissues that are destroyed are permanently lost, we know that people can recover to some extent from brain injury. How is it possible that recovery can occur when there is no replacement of the damaged tissue? There appears to be strategies that are employed by the brain to assist in recovery. Other areas of the brain can take over some of the function, new behavioral strategies can be employed to accomplish the task, and non-injured areas of the brain can adapt and change to compensate for the lost function. Rehabilitation for brain injury patients usually involves strategies to promote these recovery mechanisms. These include mindfulness training which has been found to be helpful in recovery from brain injury.

 

In today’s Research News article “Grieving a disrupted biography: an interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring barriers to the use of mindfulness after neurological injury or impairment.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8386048/ ) Finlay and colleagues recruited adult mindfulness teachers who had a neurological injury including sensory loss. They completed a mindfulness measure and a semi-structured interview exploring their experiences with mindfulness. Transcript of the interviews were assessed for descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual themes.

 

Two overarching themes emerged in the analysis of the interviews, overcoming a disrupted biography and proactive self-management. The first theme involved adjusting to a new identity and the changed health status and sensory loss. This included coping with their grief over the loss. This was facilitated by mindfulness practices of self-compassion, acceptance, and focusing on the present moment. This heled them to overcome the desire to return to their previous selves, accept themselves as the currently are, and manage their emotions. The second theme of proactive self-management involved using mindfulness practice to regain autonomy and take responsibility for the needed adjustments to their lives. This involved not diffusing responsibility to healthcare providers. It also involved using mindfulness to manage the physical and emotional suffering resulting from the injury including pain and emotional agony.

 

It was clear from the participants descriptions of their journeys to adapt to their changed realities that the adaptations were greatly facilitated by mindfulness practice. It allowed them to accept things as they are and take responsibility for their own management of the symptoms. The study involved highly experienced mindfulness practitioners. It is not clear that training in mindfulness after neurological injury in non-practitioners would have the same benefits. But the descriptions revealed that the core skills produced by mindfulness training were essential in accepting and adjusting to their altered selves. So, it would be expected that mindfulness training would be beneficial to everyone after neurological injury.

 

So, improve coping with brain injury with mindfulness.

 

“TBI is a complex diagnosis involving many components. One significant component is the stress response after having this type of injury. Mindfulness meditation appears to have a strong relaxing and stress reduction quality for patients, which is tremendously beneficial for overall recovery from injury.”  – Heechin Chae

 

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

 

Finlay, K. A., Hearn, J. H., & Chater, A. (2021). Grieving a disrupted biography: an interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring barriers to the use of mindfulness after neurological injury or impairment. BMC psychology, 9(1), 124. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00628-0

 

Abstract

Background

Mindfulness has demonstrated strong utility for enhancing self-management and health outcomes in chronic illness. However, sensation-focused mindfulness techniques may not be appropriate for clinical populations with neurological injury. This study aimed to identify how expert mindfulness teachers with sensory loss/impairment naturalistically adapt and experience mindfulness. We aimed to highlight the rationale for and barriers to mindfulness practice when living with sensory loss.

Methods

A qualitative, semi-structured interview design was used, analysed via Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Eight (5 females, 3 males) mindfulness teachers with neurological injury were recruited via a national registry of Mindfulness for Health teachers. Interviews (range: 50–93 min) were completed, transcribed verbatim and analysed idiographically for descriptive, linguistic and conceptual themes, before a cross-case analysis was completed.

Results

Two superordinate themes were identified: (1) Overcoming a disrupted biography; and (2) Proactive self-management. These themes considered the challenge of reconciling, through grief, a past health status with the present reality of living with sensory loss due to Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis or Functional Neurological Disorder. Mindfulness was experienced as a method by which proactive choices could be made to maintain control and autonomy in health, reducing perceptions of suffering, psychological distress, cognitive reactivity and rumination.

Conclusions

Mindfulness was found to support the self-management of health after neurological injury/impairment. Mindfulness meditation presented an initial challenge as trauma and grief processes were (re-)activated during mindfulness sessions. However, mindfulness was found to support the resolution of these grief processes and encourage adaptive approach-based coping and acceptance of health and neurological impairment/injury.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8386048/

 

Reduce Opioid Dosage in Chronic Pain Patients with Mindfulness

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Reduce Opioid Dosage in Chronic Pain Patients with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It’s clear that when it comes to tackling pain, it takes all of the tools in the toolkit. And when it comes to opioids, the approach needn’t be all or nothing. . .  the combination of medicine plus mind-body therapies works best.” – Allison Aubrey

 

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 chronic pain conditions. The most common treatment for chronic pain is drugs. These include over-the-counter analgesics and opioids. But opioids are dangerous and highly addictive. Prescription opioid overdoses kill more than 14,000 people annually. So, there is a great need to find safe and effective ways to improve the individual’s ability to cope with the pain. There is an accumulating volume of research findings that demonstrate that mindfulness practices, in general, are effective in treating pain and reducing opioid use. How mindfulness works to produce these benefits is not known.

 

In today’s Research News article “Endogenous theta stimulation during meditation predicts reduced opioid dosing following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8026958/ ) Hudak and colleagues recruited veterans with chronic pain and at least 30 days of opioid use and randomly assigned them to receive 8 weekly 2-hour sessions of either supportive group psychotherapy or Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) involving mindful breathing and body scan meditations, cognitive reappraisal to decrease negative emotions and craving, and savoring to augment natural reward processing and positive emotion. All participants completed a lab-based mindfulness session while simultaneously having their Electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded. During the programs and for 4 months after they reported their daily opioid use.

 

They found in comparison to baseline and the supportive group psychotherapy group that during the meditation the Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) group had significantly greater power in the EEG of the frontal cortex in the alpha (9-13 cycles per second) and theta (4-8 cycles per second) bands and also theta spectral coherence. They also found that the MORE group had significantly greater reductions in opioid use over the treatment period. In addition. They found that the greater the increase in theta band power in the EEG the greater the reduction in opioid use and this continued for 4 months after the program. Finally, they found that MORE was associated with reduced opioid use both directly and also indirectly by being associated with increased frontal theta power.

 

These findings suggest that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) is effective in reducing opioid dosage in chronic pain patients. This is in line with previous findings that mindfulness training produces reductions in opioid dependence. Mindfulness training has also been shown to alter brain activity and the present findings indicate that theta power in the frontal lobe is a marker of these changes. Finally, the results suggest that MORE directly reduces opioid dependence and at the same time increase brain activity which is associated with further reductions in opioid use.

 

So, reduce opioid dosage in chronic pain patients with mindfulness.

 

“We also teach people how to use mindfulness to reclaim a sense of healthy pleasures, joy, and meaning in life, in spite of pain.” – Eric Garland

 

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

 

Hudak, J., Hanley, A. W., Marchand, W. R., Nakamura, Y., Yabko, B., & Garland, E. L. (2021). Endogenous theta stimulation during meditation predicts reduced opioid dosing following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 46(4), 836–843. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-00831-4

 

Abstract

Veterans experience chronic pain at greater rates than the rest of society and are more likely to receive long-term opioid therapy (LTOT), which, at high doses, is theorized to induce maladaptive neuroplastic changes that attenuate self-regulatory capacity and exacerbate opioid dose escalation. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to modulate frontal midline theta (FMT) and alpha oscillations that are linked with marked alterations in self-referential processing. These adaptive neural oscillatory changes may promote reduced opioid use and remediate the neural dysfunction occasioned by LTOT. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess the effects of a mindfulness-based, cognitive training intervention for opioid misuse, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), on alpha and theta power and FMT coherence during meditation. We then examined whether these neural effects were associated with reduced opioid dosing and changes in self-referential processing. Before and after 8 weeks of MORE or a supportive psychotherapy control, veterans receiving LTOT (N = 62) practiced mindfulness meditation while EEG was recorded. Participants treated with MORE demonstrated significantly increased alpha and theta power (with larger theta power effect sizes) as well as increased FMT coherence relative to those in the control condition—neural changes that were associated with altered self-referential processing. Crucially, MORE significantly reduced opioid dose over time, and this dose reduction was partially statistically mediated by changes in frontal theta power. Study results suggest that mindfulness meditation practice may produce endogenous theta stimulation in the prefrontal cortex, thereby enhancing inhibitory control over opioid dose escalation behaviors.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8026958/

 

Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Concern for and Impact on the Environment

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Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Concern for and Impact on the Environment

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness . . . promotes environmental sustainability. It helps individuals disengage from automatic thoughts and become more open to behavioral change and freedom to make different choices. Examples of mindful behaviors include bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store, taking shorter showers, refilling personal water bottles instead of using a disposable bottle and using your purchasing power as a consumer to support companies with more sustainable practices.” – Menchi Liu

 

The ability of humans to manipulate and control the environment has developed to the point that human activity is now threatening to destroy that environment. This can be seen in the rapid extinction of once thriving species, the loss of forestation, the historic rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, sea level rise, and climate change. It has been argued that we may have crossed a tipping point where the environmental damage is irreversible. But, if we haven’t, there is a pressing need to address the very activities that are producing the damage. We need to begin acting more responsibly toward our environment to reverse and heal the damage,

 

This will require actions by humans. This will require positive ecological behaviors. Ecological behavior is defined “as behaviors that protect/avoid harm to the environment and span all areas of life such as nutrition, mobility and transportation, energy and water consumption, waste avoidance, and consumerism.” In other words, humans need to change their behaviors toward more sustainable patterns.

 

Mindfulness promotes awareness of the internal and external environments. As such, it promotes sensitivity to these environments and to the impact of our actions on ourselves and the environment. In fact, mindfulness has been shown to be associated with the individual’s feelings of connectedness to nature. It is thus possible that mindfulness can stimulate ecological behavior and be a positive force for reversing the damage to our precious environment.

 

In today’s Research News article “Practice Matters: Pro-environmental Motivations and Diet-Related Impact Vary With Meditation Experience.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584353/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A ) Thiermann and colleagues recruited adult participants online who had varied diets and had them complete a questionnaire measuring their mindfulness practices, mindfulness, motivation, happiness, connection to the natural world, and animal protein consumption.

They separated the participants into 3 groups depending upon the amount of meditation they practiced, no practice, novice meditators, and advanced meditators. They found that the advanced meditations in comparison to the two other groups had significantly higher levels of mindfulness, happiness, connection to the natural world, integrated motivation, intention to reduce the intake of animal proteins, and concerns about the environment as a reason for reduced animal protein, and lower levels of introjected motivation. They also modelled the impact of each participants’ diets on greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and land use and found that the advanced meditators had significantly lower environmental impacts.

 

This study compared existing groups and as such causation cannot be determined as people who choose to meditate may be very different types of people than those who do not. Nevertheless, it is clear that meditators, particularly experienced meditators, have better psychological well-being, greater environmental consciousness, and lower impact on the environment. This does not establish meditation as a solution to the degradation of the environment. Future research needs to examine the effects of meditation training on environmentally impactful behaviors to determine if meditation can cause better ecological behaviors..

 

So, meditation experience is associated with increased concern for and impact on the environment.

 

“A sense of awareness, empathy, and connection with our surroundings, as well as an ability to create innovative solutions, are necessary and vital for solving any global issues facing our world today.” – Art of Living

 

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

 

Thiermann UB, Sheate WR and Vercammen A (2020) Practice Matters: Pro-environmental Motivations and Diet-Related Impact Vary With Meditation Experience. Front. Psychol. 11:584353. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584353

 

Mindfulness has emerged as a potential motivator for sustainable lifestyles, yet few studies provide insight into the relationship between mindfulness practice levels and individual engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. We also lack information about the significance of meditators’ behavioral differences in terms of their measurable environmental impact and the motivational processes underlying these differences in pro-environmental performance. We classified 300 individuals in three groups with varying meditation experience and compared their pro-environmental motivations and levels of animal protein consumption. Exceeding prior attempts to compare high-impact behaviors of mindfulness practitioners and non-practitioners, we created the most detailed classification of practice engagement by assessing frequency, experience and type of meditation practice. This nuanced view on mindfulness practice reveals that advanced meditators, who reported high levels of connectedness with nature (CWN), subjective happiness and dispositional mindfulness showed significantly more concern for the environment. They also demonstrated the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, land occupation and water use related to their animal-protein consumption. This study is the first to follow a self-determination theory perspective to deepen our understanding of the motivational differences between meditator groups. We revealed that advanced meditators reported significantly more integrated motivation toward the environment than non-meditators. We also provided preliminary evidence for a new theoretical framework suggesting that experiential strategies such as mindfulness practices could strengthen the relational pathway of pro-environmental behaviors. Using sequential mediation analysis, we confirmed that the negative effect of mindful compassion practice on greenhouse gas emissions from animal-protein consumption is partially mediated by CWN and integrated motivation toward the environment. While our study does not support assumptions of causality, it shows that much can be learned by studying the motivations of advanced meditators for maintaining high levels of pro-environmental behavior.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584353/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A

Increase Concentrative Attentional Processes with Brief Mindfulness Training

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Increase Concentrative Attentional Processes with Brief Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness training produces measurable benefits to attention.” – Alexandra B. Morrison

 

One of the primary effects of mindfulness 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 mindfulness training and produces improvements in thinking, reasoning, and creativity. The importance of heightened attentional ability to the individual’s ability to navigate the demands of complex modern life cannot be overstated. It helps in school, at work, in relationships, or simply driving a car. As important as attention is, it’s surprising that little is known about the what attentional processes are affected by mindfulness.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Training on Attentional Processes: Mindfulness Increases Prepulse Facilitation but Not Prepulse Inhibition.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.582057/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A ) Asli and colleagues recruited healthy adults (aged 20-41 years) and randomly assigned them to either mindfulness or control condition. They underwent attentional measurement with a prepulse facilitation / prepulse inhibition test. In the test they had the magnitude of their eyeblink recorded in response to a loud abrupt tone. The tone was presented alone or preceded by a soft tone either 120 milliseconds before which produces a reduction in the startle eyeblink (prepulse inhibition) or 2 seconds before which produces an increase in the startle eyeblink (prepulse facilitation). They then listened to a 23-minute audio tape containing either mindfulness training or classical music. Followed by a repeat of the attentional test.

 

They found that the groups did not differ in their startle reflex to the tone alone or when the tone was preceded by 120 milliseconds by a soft tone. But after mindfulness training there was a significantly greater increase in the startle response than in control condition when the tone was preceded by 2 seconds by a soft tone. This indicates that mindfulness training increases prepulse facilitation and not prepulse inhibition.

 

Mindfulness is known to increase concentrative attention which focuses attention on a single object. In the present experiment the increased concentration on the prepulse when presented 2 seconds before appeared to facilitate its effects on the startle response. Hence, the present findings suggest that mindfulness improves concentrative attention. The fact that this can be done with a single brief training underlines the power of mindfulness in improving attention. This has important consequences for cognitive performance and may explain the ability of mindfulness to improve thinking, reasoning, and creativity.

 

So, Increase Concentrative Attentional Processes with Brief Mindfulness Training.

 

” Mindfulness refines our attention so that we can connect more fully and directly with whatever life brings.” – Sharon Salzberg

 

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

 

Åsli O, Johansen MF and Solhaug I (2021) The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Training on Attentional Processes: Mindfulness Increases Prepulse Facilitation but Not Prepulse Inhibition. Front. Psychol. 12:582057. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.582057

 

Mindfulness is intentional focus of one’s attention on emotions, thoughts, or sensations occurring in the present moment with a nonjudgmental attitude. Recently there has been increased interest in the effects of mindfulness practice on psychological processes such as concentration, focus, and attention. In the present study, a prepulse inhibition/facilitation (PPI/PPF) paradigm was employed to investigate the effect of brief mindfulness practice on automatic attention regulation processes. PPI occurs when a relatively weak prepulse (e.g., a tone) is presented 30–500 ms before a startle-inducing stimulus, and reduces the magnitude of the startle response. Prepulse facilitation (PPF) is the increase in startle magnitude when the prepulse is presented 500 ms or more before the startle-eliciting stimulus. In the present study, the effect of engaging in a 23-min mindfulness exercise on PPI and PPF was investigated. Participants listened to either a mindfulness instruction (mindfulness group) or relaxing music (control group). In a PPI/PPF pretest and posttest, a startle-eliciting noise was presented at lead intervals of 60, 120, and 2,000 ms. Results showed that engaging in brief mindfulness practice increased prepulse facilitation at the 2,000 ms lead interval in the posttest compared to the pretest. The amount of PPI did not differ between tests.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.582057/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A

 

Improve Counselor Self-Efficacy and Reduce Compassion Fatigue with Mindfulness

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Improve Counselor Self-Efficacy and Reduce Compassion Fatigue with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness training may be beneficial as a prophylactic for stress and burnout for psychotherapists, counselors, and other mental health care workers.” – Tasha Felton

 

In occupations, like counseling, burnout is all too prevalent. Burnout is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. It not only affects the counselors personally, but also the patients, as it produces a loss of empathy and compassion. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep. Mindfulness is also known to improve self-compassion, understanding one’s own suffering and self-efficacy, one’s belief in their ability to make things better. It is possible that this may be a key to understanding mindfulness’ effects on burnout.

 

In today’s Research News article “Self-Oriented Empathy and Compassion Fatigue: The Serial Mediation of Dispositional Mindfulness and Counselor’s Self-Efficacy.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613908/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A ) Zhang and colleagues recruited hotline psychological counselors online and had them complete a questionnaire measuring mindfulness, self-efficacy burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and empathy, including perspective taking, personal distress, fantasy, and empathic concern subscales.

 

They found that the higher the levels of empathy the higher the levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress and the lower the levels of mindfulness and self-efficacy. The higher the levels of both mindfulness and self-efficacy the lower the levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress while the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of self-efficacy. Linear structural modelling revealed that empathy was directly, positively, related to compassion fatigue and also indirectly related by being associated with self-efficacy which was in turn associated with lower compassion fatigue. Finally, empathy was also indirectly related to compassion fatigue by being negatively associated with mindfulness that was positively associated with self-efficacy which was in turn associated with lower compassion fatigue.

 

These findings are correlational. So, causation cannot be definitively established. But the associations are clear. Greater empathy is associated with greater compassion fatigue. In other words, an empathetic counselor is more likely to experience compassion fatigue which leads to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. These effects are mitigated, however, by the counselor’s empathy being associated with greater mindfulness and self-efficacy which work to lower compassion fatigue. This all leads to the suggestion that training in mindfulness may help prevent a counselor losing compassion and burning out. They may help prevent counselor burnout.

 

So, improve counselor self-efficacy and reduce compassion fatigue with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness trains us to think about our thoughts as ‘just thoughts,’” including the thought that tragedies and outrage are part of life or that trying to effect change is hopeless. Part of desensitization and empathy fatigue is that “we become numb and disengaged, lacking in introspection and compassion for others,” Steven Lynn

 

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

 

Zhang L, Ren Z, Jiang G, Hazer-Rau D, Zhao C, Shi C, Lai L and Yan Y (2021) Self-Oriented Empathy and Compassion Fatigue: The Serial Mediation of Dispositional Mindfulness and Counselor’s Self-Efficacy. Front. Psychol. 11:613908. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613908

 

This study aimed to explore the association between self-oriented empathy and compassion fatigue, and examine the potential mediating roles of dispositional mindfulness and the counselor’s self-efficacy. A total of 712 hotline psychological counselors were recruited from the Mental Health Service Platform at Central China Normal University, Ministry of Education during the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019, then were asked to complete the questionnaires measuring self-oriented empathy, compassion fatigue, dispositional mindfulness, and counselor’s self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the possible associations and explore potential mediations. In addition to reporting confidence intervals (CI), we employed a new method named model-based constrained optimization procedure to test hypotheses of indirect effects. Results showed that self-oriented empathy was positively associated with compassion fatigue. Dispositional mindfulness and counselor’s self-efficacy independently and serially mediated the associations between self-oriented empathy and compassion fatigue. The findings of this study confirmed and complemented the etiological and the multi-factor model of compassion fatigue. Moreover, the results indicate that it is useful and necessary to add some training for increasing counselor’s self-efficacy in mindfulness-based interventions in order to decrease compassion fatigue.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613908/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A

 

Reduce Covid-19 Lockdown Stress Effects on Sleep and Work Engagement with Mindfulness

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Reduce Covid-19 Lockdown Stress Effects on Sleep and Work Engagement with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Research shows that mindfulness meditation can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression and can have a significant impact in the workplace”. – Headspace

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to improve health and well-being in healthy individuals. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the mental and physical health of the population. It has created intense stress both for workers but also for people simply isolating at home. Mindfulness is known to decrease the psychological and physical responses to stress. So, mindfulness training may be helpful in employees coping with the mental challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

 

In today’s Research News article “Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.610156/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A ) Zheng and colleagues performed 2 studies, recruiting working adult participants, one in China and the other in the UK during Covid-19 lockdown. They were randomly assigned to practice for 10 minutes each morning for 10 days an audio guided practice of mindfulness or mind wandering. They were measured before and after training for mindfulness, sleep quality, work engagement, and the level of stress as indicated by the number of Covid-19 cases in the area.

 

They found that with the mind wandering group the greater the number of cases reported the shorter the sleep duration of the participants while the mindfulness group had no significant change in sleep duration. In addition, they found that work engagement was positively related to sleep duration but negatively related to the number of cases reported.

 

The results suggest that mindfulness training reduces the impact of stress during Covid-19 lockdown on sleep which in turn maintains work engagement. Mindfulness has previously been shown in multiple studies to improve sleep, reduce stress effects, and improve work engagement. The present study suggests that these benefits of mindfulness practice work to buffer the effects of the stress produced by Covid-19 lockdown on sleep and work engagement. In other words mindfulness training makes employees better able to cope with stress.

 

So, reduce Covid-19 lockdown stress effects on sleep and work engagement with mindfulness.

 

“The mindful response to COVID-19 . . . exemplifies that burnout can be mitigated by system-sponsored programming.” – Marianna Klatt

 

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

 

Zheng MX, Masters-Waage TC, Yao J, Lu Y, Tan N and Narayanan J (2020) Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration. Front. Psychol. 11:610156. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.610156

 

We examine whether mindfulness can neutralize the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees’ sleep duration and work engagement. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment in Wuhan, China during the lockdown between February 20, 2020, and March 2, 2020, in which we induced state mindfulness by randomly assigning participants to either a daily mindfulness practice or a daily mind-wandering practice. Results showed that the sleep duration of participants in the mindfulness condition, compared with the control condition, was less impacted by COVID-19 stressors (i.e., the increase of infections in the community). In Study 2, in a 10-day daily diary study in the United Kingdom between June 8, 2020, and June 19, 2020, we replicate our results from Study 1 using a subjective measure of COVID-19 stressors and a daily measure of state mindfulness. In addition, we find that mindfulness buffers the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on work engagement mediated by sleep duration. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the number of reported cases continues to rise globally, our findings suggest that mindfulness is an evidence-based practice that can effectively neutralize the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on sleep and work outcomes. The findings of the present study contribute to the employee stress and well-being literature as well as the emerging organizational research on mindfulness.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.610156/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A

 

Reduce Fatigue and Depression in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis with Mindfulness

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Reduce Fatigue and Depression in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the pragmatic resiliency skills of mindfulness training may be beneficial in helping to mitigate unpleasant and unpredictable mental and physical symptoms that are associated with an MS diagnosis.” – Rachel M. Gilbertson

 

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive demyelinating disease which attacks the coating on the neural axons which send messages throughout the body and nervous system. It affects about 2 million people worldwide and about 400,000 in the U.S. 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. But 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. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness training during brief periods of hospitalization in multiple sclerosis (MS): beneficial alterations in fatigue and the mediating role of depression.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8499486/ ) Sauder and colleagues recruited patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who also had symptoms of fatigue and depression during a brief (>5-day) hospital stay. During their hospital stay the patients were administered daily 45-minute mindfulness training based upon Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). They were measured before and after the hospital stay for depression, fatigue, rumination, mindfulness, cognition, and attention.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline after training there were significant increases in mindfulness and distraction techniques to cope with a negative mood and significant decreases in depression, general fatigue, and physical fatigue. Further, they found that the greater the increases in mindfulness the greater the reductions in fatigue and depression. A mediation analysis revealed that mindfulness decreased fatigue indirectly by reducing depression that in turn reduced fatigue.

 

The study lacked a control, comparison, condition and as such caution must be exercised in interpreting the results. But mindfulness has been previously demonstrated in controlled studies to reduce fatigue and depression in a wide variety of people. So, the effects of mindfulness reported here were probably due to mindfulness causing the improvements. What is new here is that mindfulness reduces depression and in turn fatigue in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The patients also had a significant increase in the coping strategy of using distraction during negative mood states. This suggests that mindfulness training helps them to learn to distract themselves from depression and this may be the mechanism whereby mindfulness reduces depression.

 

Depression and fatigue greatly reduce the patients’ ability to conduct their lives, reducing their quality of life, So, improving depression and fatigue can be very beneficial to these patients. This suggests that mindfulness training should be recommended for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

 

So, reduce fatigue and depression in patients with multiple sclerosis with mindfulness.

 

“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

 

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

 

Sauder, T., Hansen, S., Bauswein, C., Müller, R., Jaruszowic, S., Keune, J., Schenk, T., Oschmann, P., & Keune, P. M. (2021). Mindfulness training during brief periods of hospitalization in multiple sclerosis (MS): beneficial alterations in fatigue and the mediating role of depression. BMC neurology, 21(1), 390. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-021-02390-7

 

Abstract

Objectives

Persons with MS (PwMS) are frequently affected by fatigue and depression. Mindfulness-based interventions may reduce these symptoms in PwMS and consequently their application has been extended to various settings. Only few efforts have been made to explore effects of short-term mindfulness training during brief periods of hospitalization. In the current study, the feasibility and potential effects of short-term mindfulness training on depression, fatigue, rumination and cognition were explored in PwMS in an acute-care hospital setting. Based on previous work, it was further examined whether the relation between trait mindfulness and fatigue prior to and following the intervention was mediated by depression and whether a mediation effect was also observable throughout the intervention.

Methods

A short-term mindfulness training protocol was developed, tailored to the requirements of the acute-care setting. Subsequently, 30 PwMS were recruited sequentially and received mindfulness training during the routine clinical process (median duration in hospital: eight days, number of sessions: four). Participants completed relevant self-report measures (depression, fatigue, rumination) and a neuropsychological assessment before and after training.

Results

Participants reported significantly increased trait mindfulness and decreased depression and fatigue following the intervention. Respective change scores were highly correlated so that increased trait mindfulness was associated with decreased symptoms. In the rumination domain, patients reported a tendency for an increased adaptive ability to engage in distractive behavior during arising negative mood. Other measures of trait rumination and cognition remained relatively stable. Results of the mediation analyses indicated that depression mediated the negative relationship between trait mindfulness and fatigue symptoms at pre and post assessments. With regards to the change scores, an association between mindfulness and cognitive fatigue ceased to be significant when depression was controlled, albeit in this case, the mediation effect did not reach significance.

Conclusion

Results of the current study indicate that short-term mindfulness training during brief periods of hospitalization may be beneficial for PwMS. They further complement previous work by identifying depression as a potential mediator of the antagonistic relationship between mindfulness and fatigue. Based on the current exploratory study, future trials are warranted to address this mechanism of mindfulness training in more detail.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8499486/