Mindfulness

Mindfulness Increases Resiliency During a Pandemic

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Mindfulness Increases Resiliency During a Pandemic

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“These are trying times, but incorporating mindful practices into your daily routine can help calm anxiety and build healthy coping skills.” – Rae Jacobson

 

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 frontline 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 coping with the mental and physical challenges resulting from the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Physical Activity and Mindfulness on Resilience and Depression During the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic..” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700742/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1696300_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210803_arts_A ) Antonini and colleagues used emails to recruit adults who were engaged in either exercise or mindfulness practice during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in Switzerland. They had them complete measures of resilience and depression at two different times during the lockdown.

 

They found that mindfulness practitioners had significantly lower resilience than exercisers and that had women had significantly lower resilience and greater depression than men. They also found that the resilience of the mindfulness group significantly increased from the first to the second measurement while the exercisers did not. But the depression of the exercise group significantly declined from the first to the second measurement while the mindfulness group did not. Overall, the higher the levels of resilience the lower the levels of depression at both measurement times.

 

These are interesting results but are correlational, so no conclusions regarding causation can be reached. The results suggest that resilience tends to counteract depression. They also suggest that mindfulness practitioners are initially less resilient during a stressful time than exercisers but that they increase in resilience as the lockdown continues. On the other hand, exercisers decrease in depression over the same period of time.

 

Dealing with a public health emergency lockdown can be extremely stressful and requires resilience in the face of the stress to effectively deal with it. Mindfulness appears to allow for a growth in resilience making the practitioners better able to cope. On the other hand, exercise appears to help with the depression resulting from the lockdown. Unfortunately, they did not look at mindfulness practitioners who were also exercisers to observe if the combination has additive benefits.

 

So, mindfulness increases resiliency during a pandemic.

 

“mindfulness meditation might be a viable low-cost intervention to mitigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis and future pandemics.” – Julie Lei Zhu

 

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

 

Antonini Philippe R, Schwab L and Biasutti M (2021) Effects of Physical Activity and Mindfulness on Resilience and Depression During the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Psychol. 12:700742. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700742

 

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic generated a significant number of stressors that the Swiss population had to deal with. In order to cope with and adapt to such adversity, it is essential to have protective factors that allow for resilience. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mindfulness and physical activity on depression and resilience during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative method was adopted asking participants who were engaged in physical activity or mindfulness to fill a battery of measures of depression and resilience and some demographic questions. The results showed that mindfulness practice strengthened the initial level of resilience of practitioners, suggesting that mindfulness meditation is a tool for coping with adversity during a potentially traumatic event. Conversely, physical activity practitioners maintained a stable resilience score over time, suggesting that exposure to adversity did not disrupt their state of biopsychospiritual homeostasis. Moreover, being physically active decreased the depression score over time. Regarding demographic variables, gender differences were observed in the average scores in the resilience scale and in the Depression Inventory.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700742/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1696300_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210803_arts_A

 

Mindfulness is Associated with Better Dementia Patient and Caregiver Outcomes

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Mindfulness is Associated with Better Dementia Patient and Caregiver Outcomes

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Research has shown preliminary but promising results for mindfulness-based interventions to benefit people with dementia and caregivers.” – Lotte Berk

 

Dementia is a progressive loss of mental function produced by degenerative diseases of the brain. Dementia patients require caregiving particularly in the later stages of the disease. Caregiving for dementia patients is a daunting intense experience that can go on for four to eight years with increasing responsibilities as the loved one deteriorates. This places tremendous psychological and financial stress on the caregiver. Hence, there is a need to both care for the dementia patients and also for the caregivers. Mindfulness practice for caregivers has been shown to help them cope with the physical and psychological demands of caregiving. In addition, mindfulness training has been found to help protect aging individuals from physical and cognitive declines.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effect of Baseline Patient and Caregiver Mindfulness on Dementia Outcomes.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8324319/ ) Innis and colleagues recruited patients with dementia and their caregivers and both were measured for cognitive function, functional activities, health related quality of life, verbal learning, memory, executive function, visual ability, mindfulness, resilience, vulnerability, and Apolipoprotein E. In addition, “caregivers completed ratings of care confidence, care preparedness, burden, mood, and appraisals of caregiving”.  Finally, a subset of participants underwent brain scanning with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

 

They found that participants without dementia had significantly higher levels of mindfulness than those with even mild dementia. They also found that the higher the level of patient mindfulness the lower the caregiver ratings of patient dementia, the higher the ratings of health-related quality of life, and the lower the rated patient impairment, cognitive complaints, anxiety, and depression. In addition, the higher the patient’s level of mindfulness the higher the levels of cognition, verbal learning, memory, visuospatial ability, and resilience and the lower the levels of vulnerability. Finally, the found that the association of patient mindfulness on cognitive ability was mediated by resilience and vulnerability.

 

These results are based upon correlations and thus causation cannot be determined. Nevertheless, the associations are clear. The degree of mindfulness of dementia patients is associated with better cognitive ability, emotional health, and resilience and lower levels of vulnerability. These latter relationships appear to be the intermediaries between the patient’s mindfulness and their cognitive ability. It has been shown that mindfulness training in normal individuals produces improvements in resilience. This suggests that mindfulness may help protect against cognitive decline by improving the patient’s resilience and lessening their vulnerability to the effects of aging. This further suggests the possibility that mindfulness training might help to ameliorate the cognitive decline associated with dementia. It remains for future research to explore these possibilities.

 

So, mindfulness is associated with better dementia patient and caregiver outcomes.

 

“Alzheimer’s disease patients who practice mindfulness may have better outcomes than those who do not.” – Josh Baxt

 

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

 

Innis, A. D., Tolea, M. I., & Galvin, J. E. (2021). The Effect of Baseline Patient and Caregiver Mindfulness on Dementia Outcomes. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease : JAD, 79(3), 1345–1367. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-201292

 

Abstract

Background:

Mindfulness is the practice of awareness and living in the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness-based interventions may improve dementia-related outcomes. Before initiating interventions, it would be beneficial to measure baseline mindfulness to understand targets for therapy and its influence on dementia outcomes.

Objective:

This cross-sectional study examined patient and caregiver mindfulness with patient and caregiver rating scales and patient cognitive performance and determined whether dyadic pairing of mindfulness influences patient outcomes.

Methods:

Individuals (N = 291) underwent comprehensive evaluations, with baseline mindfulness assessed using the 15-item Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS). Correlation, regression, and mediation models tested relationships between patient and caregiver mindfulness and outcomes.

Results:

Patients had a mean AMPS score of 38.0 ± 11.9 and caregivers had a mean AMPS score of 38.9 ± 11.5. Patient mindfulness correlated with activities of daily living, behavior and mood, health-related quality of life, subjective cognitive complaints, and performance on episodic memory and attention tasks. Caregiver mindfulness correlated with preparedness, care confidence, depression, and better patient cognitive performance. Patients in dyads with higher mindfulness had better cognitive performance, less subjective complaints, and higher health-related quality of life (all p-values<0.001). Mindfulness effects on cognition were mediated by physical activity, social engagement, frailty, and vascular risk factors.

Conclusion:

Higher baseline mindfulness was associated with better patient and caregiver outcomes, particularly when both patients and caregivers had high baseline mindfulness. Understanding the baseline influence of mindfulness on the completion of rating scales and neuropsychological test performance can help develop targeted interventions to improve well-being in patients and their caregivers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8324319/

 

Change the Experience of Music with Mindfulness

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Change the Experience of Music with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Music and meditation both allow a fuller and richer experience of our emotions: They stop our incessant and often negative mental chatter and offer us an opportunity to inhabit the present moment more fully and meaningfully.” –  Darin McFadyen

 

Mindfulness practice has been shown to improve 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 their responses to 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.

 

Music also evokes emotions. These appear to be somewhat different from those evoked in everyday life and so they are given a different term “aesthetic emotions”. These are one of the reasons that music is so universally popular. Mindfulness has been shown to improve the appreciation of music. It is not known, however, is mindfulness changes the emotional appreciation of music; aesthetic emotions.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Musical Aesthetic Emotion Processing.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648062/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1689544_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210727_arts_A ) Liu and colleagues recruited college students who did not have any musical training or mindfulness meditation training. They were measured for mindfulness and positive and negative emotions and randomly assigned to either no further training or to receive a 10-minute mindfulness meditation training. After the training they listened to “15 music clips (duration 1 min) from the Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works” in a randomized order. Five of which were happy, 5 sad, and 5 calm. After each clip the students completed Likert scales of the recognition, experience, tension, beauty, and liking of the clips and the emotions experienced by the students when listening to the clips.

 

They found that in comparison to the control group, the group that received brief mindfulness meditation training were significantly less accurate in identifying the emotion portrayed in the clips, experienced significantly less emotion in themselves while listening to the clips, experienced reduced body awareness, and experienced a faster passage of time while listening to the music. The mindfulness training group also found the clips significantly more beautiful than the control group.

 

The brief mindfulness meditation reduced the recognition of the emotion of the music and the magnitude of the emotional responses to it. This is likely due to the ability of mindfulness to improve emotion regulation, allowing them to experience the emotion but not overly respond to it. Mindfulness also increased the experience of the beauty of the music, perhaps as a result to mindfulness increasing their attention to the music itself. The faster musical time perception experienced and lower body awareness by the mindfulness group may also be due to the increased attention to the music.

 

These are interesting results that suggest that mindfulness influences the effect of music on the listener, reducing emotional intensity, body awareness and time perception while listening, but increasing the perceived beauty of the music. Mindfulness appears to alter the aesthetic emotional appreciation of the music.

 

So, change the experience of music with mindfulness.

 

“Combining music with meditation can deepen the positive effects of both, and bring you greater stress relief.” – Elizabeth Scott

 

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

 

Liu X, Liu Y, Shi H and Zheng M (2021) Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Musical Aesthetic Emotion Processing. Front. Psychol. 12:648062. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648062

 

Mindfulness meditation is a form of self-regulatory training for the mind and the body. The relationship between mindfulness meditation and musical aesthetic emotion processing (MAEP) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of temporary mindfulness meditation on MAEP while listening to Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works. A 2 [(groups: mindfulness meditation group (MMG); control group (CG)] × 3 (music emotions: calm music, happy music, and sad music) mixed experimental design and a convenience sample of university students were used to verify our hypotheses, which were based on the premise that temporary mindfulness meditation may affect MAEP (MMG vs. CG). Sixty-seven non-musically trained participants (65.7% female, age range: 18–22 years) were randomly assigned to two groups (MMG or CG). Participants in MMG were given a single 10-min recorded mindfulness meditation training before and when listening to music. The instruments for psychological measurement comprised of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Self-report results showed no significant between-group differences for PANAS and for the scores of four subscales of the FFMQ (p > 0.05 throughout), except for the non-judging of inner experience subscale. Results showed that temporary mindfulness meditation training decreased the negative emotional experiences of happy and sad music and the positive emotional experiences of calm music during recognition and experience and promoted beautiful musical experiences in individuals with no musical training. Maintaining a state of mindfulness while listening to music enhanced body awareness and led to experiencing a faster passage of musical time. In addition, it was found that Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works effectively induced aesthetic emotion and produced multidimensional aesthetic experiences among non-musically trained adults. This study provides new insights into the relationship between mindfulness and music emotion.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648062/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1689544_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210727_arts_A

 

Mindfulness Practice at Home is Related to Improved Distress in Cancer Survivors

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Mindfulness Practice at Home is Related to Improved Distress in Cancer Survivors

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Cancer and its treatment can be stressful for people with cancer and their caregivers. Relaxation techniques and other mind/body practices can help calm your mind and sharpen your ability to focus. These techniques offer creative ways to reduce stress caused by cancer and maintain inner peace.” Rachel Barnhart

 

A cancer diagnosis has a huge impact on most people. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are very common and are normal responses to this life-changing experience. These feeling can result from changes in body image, changes to family and work roles, feelings of grief at these losses, and physical symptoms such as pain, nausea, or fatigue. People might also fear death, suffering, pain, or all the unknown things that lie ahead. So, coping with the emotions and stress of a surviving cancer is a challenge and there are no simple treatments for these psychological sequelae of cancer.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with cancer recovery and help to alleviate many of the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including fatigue, stress,  sleep disturbance, fear, and anxiety and depression. Most mindfulness training programs include daily practice at home. Although it is assumed that home practice is important for the effectiveness of the intervention, it is not known how important home practice is to the effects of mindfulness practice on the physical and psychological well-being of cancer survivors.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review of Participants’ Adherence to Home Practice.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8200136/ ) Baydoun and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the relationship of home practice to the physical and psychological effects of mindfulness practice on cancer survivors.

 

They identified 21 published research studies that included a total of 1811 participants. They report that these published studies found that on average participants reported 23.5 minutes of daily home mindfulness practice, which was about 60% of what was recommended in the studies. They also report that the greater the amount of home practice by cancer survivors the greater the reduction in psychological distress.

 

These results suggest that adherence to recommended home practice is substantially less than recommended in the studies. But adherence is related to the psychological benefits obtained by cancer survivors. It has been assumed that home practice was important and this study suggests that it is indeed important. This suggests that future research protocols should include methods to optimize the amount of home mindfulness practice.

 

In addition, the results are correlative and as such causation cannot be determined. It is possible that people who tend to adhere to home practice recommendations are also the types of people who benefit the most from mindfulness-based interventions. So, future studies should manipulate the amount of home practice to determine causal relationships between this practice and the benefits obtained.

 

So, mindfulness practice at home is related to improved distress in cancer survivors.

 

“Cancer and its treatment can be stressful—for you and your caregivers. Practicing mindfulness and relaxation can help calm your mind, reduce stress, and sharpen your ability to focus.” – American Cancer Society

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Baydoun, M., Moran, C., McLennan, A., Piedalue, K. L., Oberoi, D., & Carlson, L. E. (2021). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review of Participants’ Adherence to Home Practice. Patient preference and adherence, 15, 1225–1242. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S267064

 

Abstract

Background

Although mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have demonstrated efficacy for alleviating psychological distress in cancer survivors, little is known about the extent to which participants adhere to assigned home practice. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize and appraise the literature on rates and correlates of adherence to mindfulness home practice among cancer survivors.

Methods

Four databases (PubMed, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, PsycInfo, and CINAHL) were searched for studies published before October 15, 2020. Articles were included if they evaluated the benefits of an MBI program for adults with cancer.

Results

Twenty-one studies (N=1811 participants) meeting the inclusion criteria were identified (randomized controlled trials (n=13), non-randomized controlled designs (n=2), single-group studies (n=6)). The pooled adherence rate for participants’ home practice was 60% of the assigned amount, which equated to 27 min per day during the intervention period. There was some evidence for a relationship between home practice of mindfulness techniques and improvements in mood, stress, anxiety, depression, and fear of cancer recurrence (correlation coefficients ranged from 0.33 to 0.67). Factors including marital status, mood disturbance at baseline, intervention modality, and personality traits were evaluated in relation to adherence to home practice, but the current literature was inadequate to evaluate whether a relationship exists.

Conclusion

Adherence to mindfulness home practice among cancer survivors is suboptimal, and most of the correlates of adherence studied to date are non-modifiable. More research is warranted to scrutinize the role of home practice in mindfulness-based interventions, including assessment of modifiable factors influencing adherence to improve benefits for this population.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8200136/

 

Mindfulness-Based Therapies Effectively Treat Cardiovascular Disease

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Mindfulness-Based Therapies Effectively Treat Cardiovascular Disease

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“What’s good for the mind also tends to be good for the heart. The mind-calming practice of meditation may play a role in reducing your risk of heart disease.” – Harvard Health

 

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer. A myriad of treatments has been developed including a variety of surgical procedures and medications. In addition, lifestyle changes have proved to be effective including quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, 60% of cardiovascular disease patients decline engaging in these lifestyle changes, making these patients at high risk for another attack.

 

Contemplative practices have been shown to be safe and effective alternative treatments for cardiovascular disease. Practices such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga, have been shown to be helpful for heart health and to reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. They have also been shown to be effective in maintaining cardiovascular health and the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The research has been accumulating. So, it makes sense to pause and take a look at what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Physical and Psychological Wellbeing in Cardiovascular Diseases: A 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/PMC8227381/ ) Marino and colleagues review, summarize and perform a meta-analysis of the published research studies of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. They identified 17 published research studies.

 

They report that the published research studies found that mindfulness-based therapies produced significant decreases in systolic blood pressure, heart palpitations, heart rate, depression, and perceived stress, and significant increases in the quality of life of patients with cardiovascular disease. Hence, mindfulness-based therapies are effective in improving the physiological and psychological state of patients with cardiovascular disease and should be recommended for the treatment of these patients.

 

So, mindfulness-based therapies effectively treat cardiovascular disease.

 

“people who meditated had lower rates of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and coronary artery disease.” – Science Daily

 

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

 

Marino, F., Failla, C., Carrozza, C., Ciminata, M., Chilà, P., Minutoli, R., Genovese, S., Puglisi, A., Arnao, A. A., Tartarisco, G., Corpina, F., Gangemi, S., Ruta, L., Cerasa, A., Vagni, D., & Pioggia, G. (2021). Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Physical and Psychological Wellbeing in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Brain sciences, 11(6), 727. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060727

 

Abstract

Background: Recently, there has been an increased interest in the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for people with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), although the exact beneficial effects remain unclear. Methods: This review aims to establish the role of MBI in the management of wellbeing for patients with CVD. Seventeen articles have been included in this systematic synthesis of the literature and eleven in the meta-analysis. Results: Considering physical (i.e., heart rate, blood pressure) and psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, styles of coping), the vast majority of studies confirmed that MBI has a positive influence on coping with psychological risk factors, also improving physiological fitness. Random-effects meta-analysis models suggested a moderate-to-large effect size in reducing anxiety, depression, stress, and systolic blood pressure. Conclusions: Although a high heterogeneity was observed in the methodological approaches, scientific literature confirmed that MBI can now be translated into a first-line intervention tool for improving physical and psychological wellbeing in CVD patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8227381/

 

Effectively Treat Substance Use Disorder with Mindfulness

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Effectively Treat Substance Use Disorder with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness is likely an effective tool in helping people with addiction because it’s a single, simple skill that a person can practice multiple times throughout their day, every day, regardless of the life challenges that arise.” – James Davis

 

Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. Obviously, there is a need to find effective methods to prevent and treat substance abuse. There are a number of programs that are successful at stopping the drug abuse, including the classic 12-step program emblematic of Alcoholics Anonymous. Unfortunately, the majority of drug and/or alcohol abusers relapse and return to substance abuse.

 

Hence, it is important to find an effective method to treat substance abuse and prevent relapse but an effective treatment has been elusive. Most programs and therapies to treat addictions have poor success rates. Recently, mindfulness training has been found to be effective in treating addictions. The research has been accumulating. So, it makes sense to pause and take a look at what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Narrative Review of Third-Wave Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies in Addiction.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8080172/ ) Balandeh and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapies for the treatment of addictions.

 

They report that the published research demonstrates that the mindfulness-based therapies of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) are all effective for the treatment of addictions. These therapies vary greatly in emphasis and techniques. The major common thread is mindfulness training. This would suggest that it’s developing mindfulness per se that is effective in treating addictions.

 

They report that on a number of explanations for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapies for the treatment of addictions. These include the ability of mindfulness training to change the individual’s responses to the usual triggers for drug use, changing the brain’s response to cravings, and sensing cravings as just another physical sensation. Regardless of the mechanism or mechanisms, it is clear that mindfulness training is effective for the treatment of substance use disorder.

 

So, effectively treat substance use disorder with mindfulness.

 

“One reason addiction is so hard to beat is that it’s a pattern of conditioned responses. The part of your brain responsible for higher reasoning essentially gets cut out of the decision-making process and you react reflexively to stimuli associated with drugs and alcohol. Practicing mindfulness gradually undoes this conditioning.” – Renewal Lodge

 

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

 

Balandeh, E., Omidi, A., & Ghaderi, A. (2021). A Narrative Review of Third-Wave Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies in Addiction. Addiction & health, 13(1), 52–65. https://doi.org/10.22122/ahj.v13i1.298

 

Abstract

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a prevalent health issue with serious social and personal consequences. SUDs are linked to numerous physical health problems. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th Edition (DSM-V), the essential characteristic of a SUD is a collection of cognitive, behavioral, and psychological manifestations indicative of the subject’s unbaiting substance use despite experiencing significant problems due to continued use. Several alternative interventions have been indicated. Among them, mindfulness-based therapies are receiving growing attention. This article reviews evidence for the use of third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) in addiction treatment. We have reviewed the literature published from 1990 to 2019. Further research is required to better understand the types of mindfulness-based interventions that work best for specific types of addiction, patients, and situations. Current findings increasingly support third-wave CBTs as a promising complementary therapy for the treatment and prevention of addiction.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8080172/

 

Mindfulness is Associated with Reduced Depression and Fatigue in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

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Mindfulness is Associated with Reduced Depression and Fatigue in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness can help people with MS learn to distinguish between actual physical discomfort and the stories they tell themselves about the pain (like “I’ll never feel better). Mindfulness can also help improve the anxiety and depression people with the disease may experience.” – Meryl Davids Landau

 

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 “Trait mindfulness is primarily associated with depression and not with fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS): implications for mindfulness-based interventions.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7962308/ ) Sauder and colleagues recruited adult patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had them complete measures of depression, fatigue, and mindfulness.

 

They found that the higher the reported levels of mindfulness, the lower the levels of depression, physical fatigue, and cognitive fatigue. A mediation analysis indicated that depression entirely mediated the relationship between mindfulness and fatigue such that mindfulness was associated with depression and depression was in turn associated with both cognitive and physical fatigue. So, the entire relationship between mindfulness and fatigue resulted from the relationship of mindfulness with depression.

 

These results are correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. Previous research, however, has demonstrated that mindfulness reduces depression and fatigue. So, the current relationships are likely due to causal relationships. Hence, mindful patients with multiple sclerosis are less depressed and this makes them less fatigued. The reason that these patients experience fatigue appears to be due to their depression and mindfulness reduces this depression. This suggests that mindfulness training may be useful in improving the psychological well-being of patients with multiple sclerosis.

 

So, mindfulness is associated with reduced depression and fatigue in patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

 

“One of the reasons that mindfulness training is so promising is because it is an easily accessible treatment for all patients. Anyone can use mindfulness — even individuals with limited mobility, who often find other training techniques, like exercise training, to be more challenging,” – Science Daily

 

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., Keune, P. M., Müller, R., Schenk, T., Oschmann, P., & Hansen, S. (2021). Trait mindfulness is primarily associated with depression and not with fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS): implications for mindfulness-based interventions. BMC neurology, 21(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-021-02120-z

 

Abstract

Objectives

Persons with MS (PwMS) often display symptoms of depression and fatigue. Mindfulness-based interventions are known to counteract these symptoms. However, to-date the exact relations between trait mindfulness, depression and fatigue remain to be examined. Fatigue is generally regarded as a symptom immanent to the disease and as a direct neurobiological consequence of increased cytokine levels and cortical atrophy. In depression on the other hand, psychosocial factors in the context of adaptation difficulties are probably of higher relevance. Hence, one may argue that mindfulness, as a trait that promotes successful adaption, may show a strong negative association with depression and a relatively minor negative association with fatigue in PwMS.

Methods

In the current study, the association between self-reported trait mindfulness, fatigue and depression was examined in a sample of 69 PwMS.

Results

Trait mindfulness showed highly significant negative correlations with both, depression and fatigue. Mediation analyses however, revealed that depression mediated the relation between mindfulness and fatigue.

Conclusion

It may be concluded that in PwMS, trait mindfulness shows a genuine negative association with depression, but that it is only secondarily associated with fatigue. Implications for mindfulness-based interventions in MS are discussed. Based on the results of the current study, it may be feasible to promote the acceptance of default fatigue symptoms, instead of an actual reduction of fatigue symptoms.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7962308/

 

Improve the Psychological Well-Being of University Students with Mindfulness

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Improve the Psychological Well-Being of University Students with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness apps offer modest but clear benefits to users in terms of improved mental health. They present a promising supplement to traditional mental health services.” – Oskari Lahtinen

 

There is a lot of pressure on university students to excel so that they can get the best jobs after graduation. This stress might in fact be counterproductive as the increased pressure can actually lead to stress and anxiety which can impede the student’s physical and mental health, well-being, and school performance. Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health. Indeed, these practices have been found to improve psychological health in college students.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Mental Health and Wellbeing of University Students: Acceptability, Effectiveness, and Mechanisms of a Mindfulness-Based Course.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8199969/ ) Medlicott and colleagues recruited university students who attended an 8-week mindfulness training. The program was based upon Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and was delivered in 8 weekly 90 minute sessions along with daily home practice. The participants were measured before and after the program and 6 weeks later for expected benefits from the program, wellbeing, mental health, mindfulness, self-compassion, resilience, and academic goals.

 

They found that following the course there were significant improvement in wellbeing. mental health, mindfulness, self-compassion, resilience, and orientation toward their academic goals that were maintained 6 weeks later. The effects were greater for participants who had mental health problems at the beginning of the program. In addition, the greater the amount of home practice, the greater the improvements observed. The amount of change in mindfulness and self-compassion produced by the course was related to the amount of improvement in wellbeing and mental health while the amount of change in resilience was related to the improvements in wellbeing.

 

It has to be recognized that the study did not contain a control, comparison, condition, so it is open to numerous alternative, confounding, explanations. But previous controlled research has demonstrated that mindfulness training produces improvements in wellbeing, mental health, mindfulness, self-compassion, and resilience. So, it is likely that the present findings are the result of the effects of the mindfulness training program rather than some alternative explanation.

 

These results suggest that participating in a mindfulness training program produces significant benefits for the psychological health and wellbeing of university students. The fact their orientation to academic goals was also improved suggests that the program may also improve their academic performance. Indeed, it would be expected that improvement in the students wellbeing and mental health would improve the likelihood of academic success.

 

So, improve the psychological well-being of university students with mindfulness.

 

“In college, it’s easy to compile all of the problems we’re facing and place it in to one big feeling of paranoia or stress. Headspace helps sort that out and filter what I should be worried about.” – Ryan Coughlin

 

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

 

Medlicott, E., Phillips, A., Crane, C., Hinze, V., Taylor, L., Tickell, A., Montero-Marin, J., & Kuyken, W. (2021). The Mental Health and Wellbeing of University Students: Acceptability, Effectiveness, and Mechanisms of a Mindfulness-Based Course. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(11), 6023. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18116023

 

Abstract

Mental health problems are relatively common during university and adversely affect academic outcomes. Evidence suggests that mindfulness can support the mental health and wellbeing of university students. We explored the acceptability and effectiveness of an 8-week instructor-led mindfulness-based course (“Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World”; Williams and Penman, 2011) on improving wellbeing and mental health (self-reported distress), orientation and motivation towards academic goals, and the mechanisms driving these changes. Eighty-six undergraduate and post-graduate students (>18 years) participated. Students engaged well with the course, with 36 (48.0%) completing the whole programme, 52 (69.3%) attending 7 out of 8 sessions, and 71 (94.7%) completing at least half. Significant improvements in wellbeing and mental health were found post-intervention and at 6-week follow-up. Improvements in wellbeing were mediated by mindfulness, self-compassion, and resilience. Improvements in mental health were mediated by improvements in mindfulness and resilience but not self-compassion. Significant improvements in students’ orientation to their academic goal, measured by “commitment” to, “likelihood” of achieving, and feeling more equipped with the “skills and resources” needed, were found at post-intervention and at 6-week follow-up. Whilst exploratory, the results suggest that this mindfulness intervention is acceptable and effective for university students and can support academic study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8199969/

 

Improve Psychological Health with Extended Confinement with Mindfulness

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Improve Psychological Health with Extended Confinement with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“During a long-term professional containment, as implied by a long-term submarine patrol, mindful disposition appears as a protective functioning to efficiently manage with the constraints due to the confinement.” – Barbara Lefranc

 

Confinement for extended periods of time can have very detrimental effects on the psychological well-being of individuals. Solitary confinement is thought of as extreme punishment due to its negative psychological impact. But even when prolonged confinement is social, as in submarine deployment, it also has psychological consequences including problematic moods and decreases in cognitive ability. Mindfulness has been shown to improve cognition and mood even in confinement as occurs in prisons. So, it would be expected that mindfulness would be related to an individual’s ability to cope with the stresses of the prolonged confinement characteristic of life on deployed submarines.

 

In today’s Research News article “Subsurface Confinement: Evidence from Submariners of the Benefits of Mindfulness.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8267514/ ) Aufauvre-Poupon and colleagues recruited male submariners and had them complete measures of mindfulness, psychological functioning, interoception, sleep, food and appetite, and physical activity before during and after a deployment of at least 60 days. They then separated the participants based on factor analysis into a mindful and non-mindful group.

 

They report that as the patrol progressed the participants had significant decreases in positive experiences, sleep, and interoception and significant increases in negative experiences and emotions. In comparison to the non-mindful group, the mindfulness group had significantly greater positive experiences and interoception and significantly lower negative experiences and emotions during the deployment.

 

These results suggest not surprisingly that during a deployment in a confined space interoceptive ability and psychological health deteriorates. It should be noted that mindfulness was not manipulated. Rather those participants who were already mindful were compared to those who were not. Hence, the two groups were composed of different individuals who likely differed in many ways other than mindfulness and these differences may account for the results. Nevertheless, the mindful group had significantly less deterioration during the deployment.

 

A deployment in a confined space is very stressful and this could produce the deterioration in psychological well-being. Mindfulness though may be an antidote. It is known to improve the individual’s psychological and physical responses to stress. It is possible, then, that mindful submariners are better able to cope with the stress and thereby have smaller deceases in psychological health during the extended confinement of the deployment. This improved ability to cope with confinement may account for the ability of mindfulness to improve psychological health during confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

So, improve psychological health with extended confinement with mindfulness.

 

“On many journeys, the hours are long and the days blend together. Nonetheless, these seafaring professionals have systems in place that allow them to be productive, keep their sanity, and even enjoy themselves.” – Kelly Chase

 

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

 

Aufauvre-Poupon, C., Martin-Krumm, C., Duffaud, A., Lafontaine, A., Gibert, L., Roynard, F., Rouquet, C., Bouillon-Minois, J. B., Dutheil, F., Canini, F., Pontis, J., Leclerq, F., Vannier, A., & Trousselard, M. (2021). Subsurface Confinement: Evidence from Submariners of the Benefits of Mindfulness. Mindfulness, 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01677-7

 

Abstract

Objectives

The subsurface ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN) is an extreme professional environment in which personnel are both isolated and confined during patrols, which can last longer than 2 months. This environment is known to degrade submariners’ mood and cognition.

Methods

This exploratory, empirical study followed a cohort of 24 volunteer submariners. Dispositional mindfulness was assessed with the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, in order to identify two groups (mindful and non-mindful) and compare change in emotional state, interoception, and health behaviors during the patrol.

Results

Overall, psychological health deteriorated during the patrol. However, mindful submariners demonstrated better psychological adaptation and interoception than the non-mindful group. This was associated with better subjective health behaviors (sleeping and eating).

Conclusions

Dispositional mindfulness appears to protect against the negative effects of long-term containment in a professional environment, such as a submarine patrol. Our work highlights that mindfulness may help individuals to cope with stress in such situations. Developing mindfulness could also be an important preventive healthcare measure during quarantine imposed by the outbreak of a serious infectious disease.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8267514/

 

Improve Cognitive Ability in Elementary School Children with Mindfulness

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Improve Cognitive Ability in Elementary School Children with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness [has been linked] to two core social-emotional skills: self-regulation and self-awareness. Skills in these areas teach students not only how to recognize their thoughts, emotions, and actions, but also how to react to them in positive ways.” – Waterford.org

 

Childhood is a miraculous period during which the child is dynamically absorbing information from every aspect of its environment. This is particularly evident during the elementary school years. Mindfulness training in school has been shown to have very positive effects. These include improvements in the academic, cognitive, psychological, emotional and social domains. Importantly, mindfulness training in school appears to improve attentional ability which is fundamental to success in all aspects of academic performance. But there have been few studies comparing the effects of mindfulness training to other types of training for elementary schoolchildren.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Versus Story Reading Intervention in Public Elementary Schools: Effects on Executive Functions and Emotional Health.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.576311/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1679696_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210713_arts_A ) Milaré and colleagues recruited 2 classrooms of children 8-9 years of age. One class received an 8-week mindfulness training that met twice a week for 30 minutes. The instructions were on awareness, generosity, and heartfulness. The other class received 8 weeks of story reading that met twice a week for 15 minutes. The stories were targeted to moral and emotional issues appropriate for children. They were measured before and after training for stress, anxiety, depression, positive and negative emotions, and executive functions including attention.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline both groups had significant improvements in executive functions including attention, processing speed, and controlled attention. On the other hand, the story reading but not mindfulness group had decreases in depression and negative emotions.

 

It should be noted that there wasn’t a control condition, so improvements from baseline might have been due to a number of confounding factors including practice effects, expectancy effects, experimenter bias etc. In addition, there wasn’t random assignment of the children to condition. But in adults it is well established that mindfulness training produces improvements in executive functions including attention. This is not surprising as mindfulness training involves focusing attention which is important for cognitive performance. The present study suggests that these benefits also accrue to 8-9 year-old children. Improving cognitive skills particularly attention in children is important and may well lead to improved academic performance.

 

It is interesting that targeted story reading produced similar cognitive benefits and also some emotional improvements. This may be due to the fact that the stories included emotional issues pertinent to children while the mindfulness training did not include mindfulness of emotions. This suggests that the mindfulness program could be improved by including paying attention to emotions.

 

So, improve cognitive ability in elementary school children with mindfulness.

 

”Students . . . have been spending anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes per day on mindfulness exercises. But classes appear to be gaining more instruction time as a result because there are fewer outbursts and disruptions.” – Emily DeRuy

 

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

 

Milaré CAR, Kozasa EH, Lacerda S, Barrichello C, Tobo PR and Horta ALD (2021) Mindfulness-Based Versus Story Reading Intervention in Public Elementary Schools: Effects on Executive Functions and Emotional Health. Front. Psychol. 12:576311. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.576311

 

Introduction: In this study we compared the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) with a story reading intervention (SI) on the executive functions and psychological profile of children in two different public schools in São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: In this controlled clinical trial, 207 children aged 8 to 9 years old responded to the Five-Digit Test (FDT), stress levels, depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, at baseline (T0) and 8 weeks later (T1). From T0 to T1, school 1 participated in MBI classes and school 2 in IS classes.

Results: In school 1 (MBI), children improved their scores on all tests except reading (errors) and counting (errors) compared with school 2. No differences were observed between groups in terms of emotional health.

Conclusion: It is feasible to implement MBI or SI in Brazilian public schools. Students in the MBI group presented broader effects in executive functions, while students in the SI group showed a trend toward reduced negative affect and depression symptoms.

Highlights

This study contributes to the scientific evidence of the positive effects of Mindfulness and Story reading on executive functions and emotional well-being in children. Neither intervention had significant effects on depression, anxiety, stress, positive, and negative affect (although Story reading showed a trend in reducing negative affect and depression), while the Mindfulness-Based Intervention had relatively broader effects on executive functions.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.576311/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1679696_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20210713_arts_A