Improve Schizophrenia with Mindfulness

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Improve Schizophrenia with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditation, along with utilizing the painful energy of hardship as fuel for the meditative fire, has made me feel differently about life. I now look at my experience of life, despite it being the only thing I am aware of, as being a small part of a bigger picture.” – Jack Bragen

 

Schizophrenia is the most common form of psychosis. It effects about 1% of the population worldwide. It appears to be highly heritable and involves changes in the brain. It is characterized by positive symptoms such as hallucinations; seeing and, in some cases, feeling, smelling or tasting things that aren’t there, or delusions; unshakable beliefs that, when examined rationally, are obviously untrue. It is also characterized by negative symptoms involving a reduced ability to function normally, neglect of personal hygiene, lack of emotion, blank facial expressions, speaking in a monotone, loss of interest in everyday activities, social withdrawal, an inability to experience pleasure, and a lack of insight into their symptoms. The symptoms of schizophrenia usually do not appear until late adolescence or early adulthood.

 

Schizophrenia is very difficult to treat with psychotherapy and is usually treated with antipsychotic drugs. These drugs, however, are not always effective, sometimes lose effectiveness, and can have some difficult side effects. In addition, even when effective, antipsychotic drugs only treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, leaving the negative symptom intact including the loss of functionality and a lack of insight. Hence, there is a need for safe and effective alternative treatments for schizophrenia that can treat the negative symptoms.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be beneficial for a variety of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline personality disorder, impulsivity, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual dysfunction, and suicidality. It also appears to be helpful with psychosis. Mindfulness has also been shown to associated with lower symptom severity of schizophrenia. This suggests that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for schizophrenia, including negative symptoms.

 

In today’s Research News article “Test of Mindfulness-Based Psychosocial Skills Training to İmprove Insight and Functional Recovery in Schizophrenia.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0193945917697222

Ylimaz and Okanlı recruited patients with schizophrenia and assigned them to either receive an 8-week, 45-minute sessions, twice per week, mindfulness based psychosocial skills training program or to a no treatment control condition. Patients continued taking antipsychotic medication throughout. The program consisted of mindfulness training, including “breathing exercise, body scan meditation, mindfulness in daily living, etc.”, and psychosocial skills training, including “communication skills, problem-solving skills, psychosis and antipsychotic drug therapy, recognizing and coping with stimulants, avoiding alcohol and drugs, learning and applying hygiene rules, and methods to cope with stress.” Before and after training and 2 months later the participants were measured for cognitive insight and for functional recovery, including social functioning, health care and treatment, daily life skills, and occupational functioning.

 

They found that following training and two months later, the mindfulness based psychosocial skills training group was significantly better than the no-treatment control group on all measures, cognitive insight and functional recovery, including social functioning, health care and treatment, daily life skills, and occupational functioning. Hence, the mindfulness based psychosocial skills training produced significant improvement in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. It should be noted that the no-treatment control condition did not contain an active alternative treatment. So, many confounding factors such as placebo effects and experimenter bias could account for the results. In addition, since the treatment program contained both mindfulness training and also psychosocial skills training, it is unclear which component or their combination is necessary for effectiveness.

 

These are potentially important findings. The positive symptoms of schizophrenia were controlled by drugs in these patients. But, the drugs do not affect the negative symptoms. The results of this study suggest that adding a mindfulness based psychosocial skills training program to antipsychotic drug treatment can help to improve the negative symptoms of lack of insight and lack of functional recovery. Thus, the combination program may be able to treat the entire spectrum of symptoms with schizophrenia.

 

So, improve schizophrenia with mindfulness.

 

 

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

Emine Yılmaz, Ayşe Okanlı, Test of Mindfulness-Based Psychosocial Skills Training to İmprove Insight and Functional Recovery in Schizophrenia. West J Nurs Res. 2017 Mar 1:193945917697222. doi: 10.1177/0193945917697222.

 

Abstract

This study was conducted with two groups (training and control) using a pretest/posttest design to determine the effect of mindfulness-based psychosocial skills training for improving insight and functional recovery levels in patients with schizophrenia. The study sample included 45 patients with schizophrenia (21 were in the training group/mindfulness-based psychosocial skills training and 24 were in the control group/standard drug medication). The data were collected using a Personal Information Form, Functional Remission of General Schizophrenia (FROGS) scale, and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). The training group was divided into two groups of 10 to 12 persons on average. Training was given as a group training for a total of 16 sessions, two sessions a week for 8 weeks. The training group scored significantly higher in functional recovery and insight levels than the control group after training ( p < .05). The study determined training has an effect on increasing the levels of insight and functional recovery in schizophrenia.

http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0193945917697222

 

Improve Loneliness and Quality of Life with Women with HIV with Mindfulness

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Improve Loneliness and Quality of Life with Women with HIV with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness-Based Therapies had a long-term effect on stress and both a short- and long-term effect on depression in people living with an HIV infection.” – Yang Yang

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

In today’s Research News article “The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on quality of life and loneliness of women with HIV.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5319288/

Samhkaniyan and colleagues recruited women infected with HIV and randomly assigned them to a no-treatment control or to receive 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), administered once weekly for 2 hours. They were measured before and after the 8-week intervention for loneliness and quality of life, including body health, emotional care, community relationships, and environmental health.

 

They found that the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) group had significant improvements in all measure in comparison to baseline and the control group, with significant improvements in loneliness, overall quality of life and each quality of life component, body health, emotional care, community relationships, and environmental health. Hence, MBCT appears to be an effective treatment for the psychological issues of loneliness and perceived quality of life in women diagnosed with HIV.

 

MBCT contains both mindfulness practice and also cognitive therapy that is designed to change faulty thought processes. Mindfulness training has been shown to relieve loneliness and lead to improvement in quality of life with a myriad of different conditions. Also, loneliness is an interpretation of the environmental conditions and the altered thinking produced by MBCT may well be responsible for the effect. A more mundane explanation is that the social contacts involved in receiving MBCT by themselves relieve loneliness and improve quality of life. A randomized controlled clinical trial with an active control group is needed to distinguish between these alternative explanations.

 

So, improve loneliness and quality of life with women with HIV with mindfulness.

 

“Given the stress-reduction benefits of mindfulness meditation training, there can be health protective effects not just in people with HIV but in folks who suffer from daily stress,” – David Creswell

 

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

Samhkaniyan, E., Mahdavi, A., Mohamadpour, S., & Rahmani, S. (2015). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on quality of life and loneliness of women with HIV . Journal of Medicine and Life, 8(Spec Iss 4), 107–113.

 

Abstract

Objective: The present study investigated the performance of Mindfulness according to the Cognitive approach on the Quality of Life and Loneliness of women with HIV.

Methods: This research is a semi-experimental with pretest-posttest and check team, which was conducted in winter, 2014. In this research, 24 positive HIV women in Tehran were selected by volunteers sampling method and were stochastically related to either the control team (n = 12) or the MBCT groups (n = 12) and, the World Health Organization quality of life survey and the University of California Los Angeles loneliness scale were administrated as pretest. The MBCT team got eight sessions of mindfulness according to the cognitive theory and the check team got no intervention. At the end, the post-test was administrated to two groups and, covariance method was used for data analysis by SPSS-20 software.

Findings: The results of the present study indicated that there were clear variations among the test groups check group and MBCT (p < 0.001). Therefore, Mindfulness-based Cognitive theory increased the mean quality of life and decreased loneliness.

Conclusion: The findings indicated that the Mindfulness-based Cognitive therapy increased the quality of life and decreased loneliness in positive HIV women. Therefore, in order to modify the quality of life and loneliness in these cases, attention to these variables during clinical trials with the goal of an appropriate intervention, will be beneficial.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5319288/

 

Improve Generalized Anxiety Disorder by Decentering and Mindfulness

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Improve Generalized Anxiety Disorder by Decentering and Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness allows us to interrupt automatic, reflexive fight, flight, or freeze reactions—reactions that can lead to anxiety, fear, foreboding, and worry.” – Bob Stahl

 

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults, or 18% of the population. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects about 3.1% of the U.S. population. GAD involves excessive worry about everyday problems. People with GAD become anxious in anticipation of problems with their finances, health, employment, and relationships. They typically have difficulty calming their concerns, even though they realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. A characterizing feature of anxiety disorders is that the suffer overly identifies with and personalizes their thoughts. The sufferer has recurring thoughts, such as impending disaster, that they may realize are unreasonable, but are unable to shake.

 

Anxiety disorders have generally been treated with drugs. It has been estimated that 11% of women in the U.S. are taking anti-anxiety medications. But, there are considerable side effects and these drugs are often abused. So, there is a need to develop alternative treatments. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is targeted at changing unproductive and unreasonable thought patterns and has been shown to be effective for anxiety disorders. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has also been shown to be effective. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) combines elements from MBCT and mindfulness training and has also been shown to be effective.

 

These therapies have in common the attempt to decenter thought processes. Decentering changes the nature of experience by having the individual step outside of experiences and observe them from a distanced perspective. The individual learns to observe thoughts and feelings as objective events in the mind rather than personally identifying with the thoughts or feelings which is so characteristic of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The individual, then, sees their thoughts as a constructed reality produced by their self and not as absolute truth. This, in turn, results in an ability to see anxiety provoking thoughts as not true, but simply a construct of the mind’s operation, allowing the individual to begin to change how they interpret experience.

 

In today’s Research News article “Change in Decentering Mediates Improvement in Anxiety in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5354303/

Hoge and colleagues examine the degree to which decentering and mindfulness mediate the effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). They recruited adult patients who were diagnosed with GAD and randomly assigned them to receive either an 8-week MBSR program or stress management education program which aimed to improve “overall health and wellness through education about diet, exercise, sleep, time management, and resilience.” Before and after the 8-weeks of training the participants were measured for anxiety, worry, mindfulness, and decentering.

 

They found that both groups showed improvements but the MBSR group had significantly greater increases in mindfulness and decentering. In addition, they found that the greater the increase in mindfulness the greater the decrease in anxiety levels and similarly, the greater the increase in decentering the greater the decrease in anxiety. A sophisticated statistical mediation analysis technique revealed that MBSR had its primary effect on anxiety levels through decentering rather than mindfulness. On the other hand, MBSR training reduced worry by increasing the mindfulness facets of acting with awareness and non-reactivity to inner experience.

 

The results are interesting and suggest that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) reduces anxiety and worry through different mechanisms; anxiety by increasing decentering and worry by increasing mindfulness. This is reasonable as anxiety is highly affected by illogical thought processes and decentering provides a means by which these thoughts can be seen as false. Mindfulness, on the other hand produces a focus on the present moment and thereby reduces worry about the future.

 

So, improve generalized anxiety disorder by decentering and mindfulness.

 

“People with anxiety have a problem dealing with distracting thoughts that have too much power. They can’t distinguish between a problem-solving thought and a nagging worry that has no benefit. If you have unproductive worries, you might think ‘I’m late, I might lose my job if I don’t get there on time, and it will be a disaster!’ Mindfulness teaches you to recognize, ‘Oh, there’s that thought again. I’ve been here before. But it’s just that—a thought, and not a part of my core self,’” – Elizabeth Hoge.

 

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

Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Goetter, E., Robinaugh, D. J., Ojserkis, R. A., Fresco, D. M., & Simon, N. M. (2015). Change in Decentering Mediates Improvement in Anxiety in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 39(2), 228–235. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9646-4

 

Abstract

Objective

We sought to examine psychological mechanisms of treatment outcomes of a mindfulness meditation intervention for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Methods

We examined mindfulness and decentering as two potential therapeutic mechanisms of action of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptom reduction in patients randomized to receive either mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or an attention control class (N=38). Multiple mediation analyses were conducted using a non-parametric cross product of the coefficients approach that employs bootstrapping.

Results

Analyses revealed that change in decentering and change in mindfulness significantly mediated the effect of MBSR on anxiety. When both mediators were included in the model, the multiple mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect effect through increases in decentering, but not mindfulness. Furthermore, the direct effect of MBSR on decrease in anxiety was not significant, suggesting that decentering fully mediated the relationship. Results also suggested that MBSR reduces worry through an increase in mindfulness, specifically by increases in awareness and nonreactivity.

Conclusions

Improvements in GAD symptoms resulting from MBSR are in part explained by increased levels of decentering.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5354303/

 

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Reduce Falls in the Elderly with Tai Chi

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Reduce Falls in the Elderly with Tai Chi

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi as an adjunct to standard medical treatment for the prevention and rehabilitation of many conditions commonly associated with age,” – Peter Wayne

 

The process of aging affects every aspect of the physical and cognitive domains. Every system in the body deteriorates including motor function with a decline in strength, flexibility, and balance. Impaired balance is a particular problem as it can lead to falls. In the U.S. one third of people over 65 fall each year and 2.5 million are treated in emergency rooms for injuries produced by falls. About 1% of falls result in deaths making it the leading cause of death due to injury among the elderly.

 

Falls, with or without injury, also carry a heavy quality of life impact. A growing number of older adults, fear falling and, as a result, limit their activities and social engagements. This can result in further physical decline, depression, social isolation, and feelings of helplessness. It is obviously important to discover methods to improve balance and decrease the number of fall in the elderly.

 

Tai Chi training is designed to enhance and regulate the functional activities of the body through regulated breathing, mindful concentration, and gentle movements. It includes balance training and has been shown to improve balance and coordination. Because it is not strenuous, involving slow gentle movements, and is safe, having no appreciable side effects, it is appropriate for an elderly population. So, it would seem that tai chi practice would be well suited to improving balance and coordination in seniors and thereby reduce the likelihood of falls.

 

In today’s Research News article “Systematic review and meta-analysis: Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5293999/

Huang and colleagues reviewed and summarized the published research findings on the effectiveness of Tai Chi practice in preventing falls in the elderly. They identified 18 research publications describing randomized controlled trials, 16 of which were included in a meta-analysis. The studies included employed Tai Chi practice with individuals over 60 years of age and measured falls.

 

They found that the published research indicated that with Tai Chi training there were more elderly individuals who did not experience any falls at all and of those who did fell less often. These improvements were associated with the frequency of training with the greater the training the greater the benefits. In addition, the style of Tai Chi mattered with the Yang style being superior to the Sun style in preventing falls. The Yang style Tai Chi is characterized by big and open movements and is the most popular form of tai chi studied today. Sun Style has movements that are continuous, slow, even and with agile steps, a higher stance, and less kicking and punching. So, it would appear that the large and open movements of the Yang style are important in improving balance and thereby making falls less likely.

 

These are important findings. Falls become more and more likely with age and the consequences of falls to the elderly can be devastating. So, a practice that can lower the risk of falls is important for the health and well-being of the elderly. Tai Chi is not strenuous, involves slow gentle movements, and is safe, having no appreciable side effects. So, it is well suited as an exercise for an elderly population. In addition, once learned it can be practiced at home or in groups, making it a flexible very low cost solution. Hence, it appears that Tai Chi should be recommended to the elderly to improve balance and reduce falls and thereby improve the health and well-being of the elderly.

 

So, reduce falls in the elderly with tai chi.

 

“Treatment of injuries, due to falls, is one of the most expensive health conditions. Evidence has shown tai chi being one of the two effective exercises to prevent falls.” – Paul Lam

 

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

Huang, Z.-G., Feng, Y.-H., Li, Y.-H., & Lv, C.-S. (2017). Systematic review and meta-analysis: Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults. BMJ Open, 7(2), e013661. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013661

 

Abstract

Objective

It remains unclear whether Tai Chi is effective for preventing falls in older adults. We undertook this systematic review to evaluate the preventive effect of Tai Chi by updating the latest trial evidence.

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods

The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched up to February 2016 to identify randomised trials evaluating Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults. We evaluated the risk of bias of included trials using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. Results were combined using random effects meta-analysis.

Outcome measures

Number of fallers and rate of falls.

Results

18 trials with 3824 participants were included. The Tai Chi group was associated with significantly lower chance of falling at least once (risk ratio (RR) 0.80, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.88) and rate of falls (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.69, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.80) than the control group. Subgroup analyses suggested that the preventive effect was likely to increase with exercise frequency (number of fallers: p=0.001; rate of falls: p=0.007) and Yang style Tai Chi was likely to be more effective than Sun style Tai Chi (number of fallers: p=0.01; rate of falls: p=0.001). The results might be influenced by publication bias as the funnel plots showed asymmetry. Sensitivity analyses by sample size, risk of bias and comorbidity showed no major influence on the primary results.

Conclusions

Tai Chi is effective for preventing falls in older adults. The preventive effect is likely to increase with exercise frequency and Yang style Tai Chi seems to be more effective than Sun style Tai Chi.

Strengths and limitations of this study:

  • This study is, to date, the most comprehensive systematic review evaluating Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults. A number of recently published trials were included, which improved the precision of the estimated effects and enabled us to investigate various influential factors such as Tai Chi style and frequency.
  • Our confidence in the findings is further increased by significant dose–response effect, stable sensitivity analyses and stable analyses by adjusting for publication bias.
  • The findings are likely to be influenced due to the bias in some original trials.
  • The estimated preventive effect of Tai Chi may be overestimated due to publication bias.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5293999/

Improve Cancer Patient and Caregiver Well-Being with Spiritual Care

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Improve Cancer Patient and Caregiver Well-Being with Spiritual Care

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Serious illnesses like cancer may cause patients or family caregivers to have doubts about their beliefs or religious values and cause much spiritual distress. Some studies show that patients with cancer may feel that they are being punished by God or may have a loss of faith after being diagnosed. Other patients may have mild feelings of spiritual distress when coping with cancer.” – National Cancer Institute

 

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer has a huge impact on most people. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are very common and are normal responses to this life-changing and potentially life-ending 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 cancer diagnosis is a challenge and there are no simple treatments for these psychological sequelae of cancer diagnosis.

 

Not only the patient but also the caregivers have difficult issues to cope with. Providing care for cancer patients can be can be a very satisfying, rewarding, and even joyful experience. But, over time, caregiving can wear the caregiver out and can lead to burnout. Caregiving comes at a cost to the caregiver. It exacts an economic toll in lost work hours, income, and even the opportunity to take a promotion or relocate for a better position. But, more significantly, it exacts a tremendous toll on caregivers’ health and well-being. Caregiving has been associated with increased levels of depression and anxiety as well as higher use of psychoactive medications, poorer self-reported physical health, compromised immune function, and increased mortality.

 

Obviously, there is a need to both care for the cancer patients and also for the caregivers. Religion and spirituality become much more important to people when they’re diagnosed with cancer or when living with cancer and also for their caregivers. It is thought that people take comfort in the spiritual when facing mortality. But, spiritual concerns, such as feelings of being abandoned by god or needing forgiveness for actions in their lives might lead to anxiety and worry rather than comfort and can exacerbate the psychological burdens of cancer or on the quality of life of cancer patients and their caregivers. Hence, there is a need to study the effects of spiritual care on the cancer patient and their caregivers.

 

In today’s Research News article “Spiritual Care Therapy on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers: A Prospective Non-randomized Single-Cohort Study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320005/

Sankhe and colleagues recruited adult cancer patients undergoing surgery whose life expectancy exceeded 6 months and one of their caregivers. This was a pilot study without a control group in which all patients and caregivers were provided with spiritual care consisting of 90 minutes daily counseling, reading and chanting. They were measured at the baseline, discharge and 2, 4, and 6 months following the surgery, for spiritual well-being and quality of life, including physical well-being, social/family well-being, emotional well-being and functional well-being.

 

They found that both the cancer patients and their caregivers had large and significant improvements in spiritual well-being and in all quality of life domains. These improvements were maintained 6 months after discharge. These are impressive effects of spiritual care but, because of the lack of a control condition, any conclusions must be tempered with the understanding that there are a myriad of possible confounding factors. The results do though provide strong evidence for the conduct of a randomized controlled clinical trial of providing spiritual care for cancer patients and their caregivers.

 

So, improve cancer patient and caregiver well-being with spiritual care.

 

“Spirituality and religion can be important to the well-being of people who have cancer, enabling them to better cope with the disease. Spirituality and religion may help patients and families find deeper meaning and experience a sense of personal growth during cancer treatment, while living with cancer, and as a cancer survivor.” – National Comprehensive Cancer Network

 

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

Sankhe, A., Dalal, K., Agarwal, V., & Sarve, P. (2017). Spiritual Care Therapy on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers: A Prospective Non-randomized Single-Cohort Study. Journal of Religion and Health, 56(2), 725–731. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0324-6

 

Abstract

Spiritual care is still in infancy stage all over the globe including India. The present study was an original study evaluating the role of spiritual care in cancer patients and their primary caregivers regarding their spiritual and general well-being. The study was a prospective, non-randomized single-group study involving cancer patients undergoing surgery and their primary caregivers. Functional assessment of cancer therapy—general and functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-spiritual care was evaluated during the admission and at the time of discharge, two, four  and 6 months following discharge from the hospital. Descriptive statistics was used for demographic details and repeated measure ANOVA with Dunn’s test was used for analysis of changes in the scores. A total of 107 (63 males and 44 females) patients with a mean (SD) of age 51 (13) years were recruited in the study. Similarly, for each patient one of their primary caregivers was recruited with their mean (SD) age of 39.4 (12.7) years. A total of 11/107 (10.3%) patients died and nine out of 107 (8.4%) were lost to follow-up eventually during the study period. There was a statistically significant (P < 0.0001) increase in the scores at all the follow-up periods in both the patient and their relative groups. To conclude, we found out that spiritual care on the basis of MATCH guideline improved the level of not only spiritual well-being but general well-being also in both the patients and their primary caregivers. Control group could have improved scientific validity of study in accessing effect of spiritual care. Authors believe that more robust comparative study on each principle against all five MATCH principles in future will add scientific validity and clear the various ambiguities in spiritual care.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320005/

 

Change the Brain with Brief Mindfulness Training

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Change the Brain with Brief Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“We can intentionally shape the direction of plasticity changes in our brain. By focusing on wholesome thoughts, for example, and directing our intentions in those ways, we can potentially influence the plasticity of our brains and shape them in ways that can be beneficial. That leads us to the inevitable conclusion that qualities like warm-heartedness and well-being should best be regarded as skills.” – Richie Davidson

 

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Its positive effects are so widespread that it is difficult to find any other treatment of any kind with such broad beneficial effects. They range from emotion regulation, attention, cognitive performance and happiness to severe mental and physical illnesses. These effects appear to be relatively permanent which suggests that mindfulness meditation produces some relatively permanent change in the brain.

 

The nervous system is a dynamic entity, constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. For example, the brain area that controls the right index finger has been found to be larger in blind subjects who use braille than in sighted individuals.  Similarly, cab drivers in London who navigate the twisting streets of the city, have a larger hippocampus, which is involved in spatial navigation, than predefined route bus drivers. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and has identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas. In other words, meditation practice appears to mold and change the brain, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits.

 

Although the effectiveness of meditation in producing psychological and physical benefits and in producing neuroplastic changes to the brain, the needed dose is not known. In other words, there is a need to investigate the effectiveness of different amounts of meditation practice and exactly what changes they produce in the brain. In today’s Research News article “Brief Mental Training Reorganizes Large-Scale Brain Networks.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5328965/

Tang and colleagues investigate the effects of a brief mindfulness meditation training, 10 30-minute sessions over 2 weeks, on functional connections between brain structures. The meditation training was called Integrative Body–Mind Training (IBMT) and includes body relaxation, mental imagery and open monitoring mindfulness meditation.

 

They recruited meditation naive male and female undergraduate students and collected functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans before and after training and compared resting functional connectivity after training to that observed at baseline. They found 105 different connectivity changes in the brains following mindfulness meditation practice. Functional connectivity was increased between the Occipital Cortex and a wide range of other areas, particularly in the Temporal Cortex, mainly the superior temporal gyrus and its pole, and the insula, and also with the frontal cortex, mainly the frontal operculum.

 

The study demonstrated that even a brief mindfulness meditation training of only 10 total hours of practice produces widespread changes in the nervous system. This is remarkable that such a small amount of training could produce such profound changes. This testifies to the power of mindfulness training to alter how our physiology processes experience. It is curious that the Occipital Cortex was found to be so involved. Occipital Cortex is involved in visual processing but Integrative Body–Mind Training (IBMT) is practiced with eyes closed. It is possible that the mental imagery was responsible for this involvement. But, it will take more research to understand the nature of the observed changes. Regardless it is clear that major changes in brain connectivity are produced even by brief mindfulness meditation practice.

 

So, change the brain with brief mindfulness training.

 

“Now, as the popularity of mindfulness grows, brain imaging techniques are revealing that this ancient practice can profoundly change the way different regions of the brain communicate with each other – and therefore how we think – permanently.” – Tom Ireland

 

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

Tang, Y.-Y., Tang, Y., Tang, R., & Lewis-Peacock, J. A. (2017). Brief Mental Training Reorganizes Large-Scale Brain Networks. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 11, 6. http://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2017.00006

 

Abstract

Emerging evidences have shown that one form of mental training—mindfulness meditation, can improve attention, emotion regulation and cognitive performance through changing brain activity and structural connectivity. However, whether and how the short-term mindfulness meditation alters large-scale brain networks are not well understood. Here, we applied a novel data-driven technique, the multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data to identify changes in brain activity patterns and assess the neural mechanisms induced by a brief mindfulness training—integrative body–mind training (IBMT), which was previously reported in our series of randomized studies. Whole brain rsfMRI was performed on an undergraduate group who received 2 weeks of IBMT with 30 min per session (5 h training in total). Classifiers were trained on measures of functional connectivity in this fMRI data, and they were able to reliably differentiate (with 72% accuracy) patterns of connectivity from before vs. after the IBMT training. After training, an increase in positive functional connections (60 connections) were detected, primarily involving bilateral superior/middle occipital gyrus, bilateral frontale operculum, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right superior temporal pole, bilateral insula, caudate and cerebellum. These results suggest that brief mental training alters the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks at rest that may involve a portion of the neural circuitry supporting attention, cognitive and affective processing, awareness and sensory integration and reward processing.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5328965/

 

Fluctuations in Mindfulness Occur with Fluctuations in Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms.

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Fluctuations in Mindfulness Occur with Fluctuations in Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms.

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness meditation encourages recognition of the wide palate of human emotions, but also keenly encourages one not to fixate on these temporary feelings. Work in mindfulness meditation includes labeling these emotions in a non-judgmental manner and allowing them to pass just as freely as they came. The misery and the suffering we (and especially those with BPD) experience in life often come from our denial of some of these emotions.” – Shannon Fitzgerald

 

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a very serious mental illness that is estimated to affect 1.6% of the U.S. population. It involves unstable moods, behavior, and relationships, problems with regulating emotions and thoughts, impulsive and reckless behavior, and unstable relationships. In addition, 30 to 90 % of BPD cases are associated with high rates of early traumatic experiences including sexual, physical and emotional abuse. BPD is associated with high rates of co-occurring depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, and completed suicides. BPD is dangerous as it can propel the sufferer, on the spur of the moment, to overreact to anger, take drugs, harm themselves, and even terminate their lives.  Needless to say, it is widespread, debilitating, and markedly reduces health and health related quality of life.

 

BPD has not responded well to a variety of therapies with the exception of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). It is significant that a difference between DBT and other therapies is that it emphasizes mindfulness. This suggests that mindfulness training may be essential in treating Borderline Personality Disorder and impulsivity. A characterizing feature of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is instability, with huge swings in moods and thoughts, leading to impulsive behaviors. It is not known what produces this instability. But since mindfulness is known to affect BPD symptoms it is possible that fluctuations in mindfulness leads to fluctuations in BPD symptoms.

 

In today’s Research News article “Weekly fluctuations in nonjudging predict borderline personality disorder feature expression in women.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4876819/

Eisenlohr-Moul and colleagues recruited female undergraduate students and measured them for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features and mindfulness. To insure a wide range of BPD symptom severities, they recruited four groups based upon BPD symptom severity (low, low average, high average, and high). To investigate symptom fluctuations over time, the participants were measured weekly for four weeks for mindfulness, BPD symptom severity, and BPD symptoms, including affective instability, identity problems, negative relationships, and self-harm.

 

They found that high levels of three mindfulness facets, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience, predicted lower levels of BPD features, affective instability, identity problems, negative relationships. Hence, overall, mindfulness is associated with lower emotional and behavioral symptoms of BPD. They then looked at weekly fluctuations of mindfulness and their associations with BPD symptoms and found that high levels of nonjudging predicted lower weekly BPD symptom expression, including weekly self-harm scores. Hence, weekly fluctuations in BPD symptoms were associated negatively with weekly fluctuations in the nonjudging facet of mindfulness.

 

These are interesting results that for the first time look at the potential source of the instability in mood and behavior so characteristic of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). They suggest that changes in mindfulness, especially nonjudging may be at least in part responsible. This is compatible with other findings that mindfulness in general is associated with emotion regulation, lower impulsivity, and positive relationships.

 

These findings suggest a speculation that when the individual judges their experience to a greater extent than usual it may precipitate self-recriminations producing shifts in mood and behavior. It should be noted, however, that this study is correlational, so no conclusions about causation can be made. It is equally likely that fluctuations in BPD symptoms shift mindfulness. Regardless, the study is a step forward in identifying why there is so much variability in the emotions and behaviors of individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

 

“Mindfulness meditation training can help people with BPD to feel less “stuck” in their emotions, and less judgmental of the emotions and themselves. Mindfulness meditation training may also help individuals with BPD be more effective in applying healthy coping skills in the midst of emotional pain, because mindfulness skills allow you to get just a little bit of space to be able to notice the emotion and be more strategic in terms of how you will act in the face of the emotion.” – Line Goguen-Hughes

 

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

Eisenlohr-Moul, T., Peters, J. R., Chamberlain, K. D., & Rodriguez, M. (2016). Weekly fluctuations in nonjudging predict borderline personality disorder feature expression in women. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38(1), 149–157. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9505-y

 

Abstract

Objectives

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) features have been linked to deficits in mindfulness, or nonjudgmental attention to present-moment stimuli. However, no previous work has examined the role of fluctuations in mindfulness over time in predicting BPD features. The present study examines the impact of both between-person differences and within-person changes in mindfulness.

Design

40 women recruited to achieve a flat distribution of BPD features completed 4 weekly assessments of mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; FFMQ) and BPD features. Multilevel models predicted each outcome from both 1) a person’s average levels of each facet and 2) weekly deviations from a person’s average for each facet.

Results

Average acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity predicted lower BPD features at the between-person level, and weekly deviations above one’s average (i.e., higher-than-usual) nonjudging predicted lower BPD feature expression at the within-person level.

Conclusions

Within-person fluctuations in the nonjudging facet of mindfulness may be relevant to the daily expression of BPD features over and above dispositional mindfulness.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4876819/

 

Improve Perception, Mood, and Motor Performance in Children with Mindfulness

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Improve Perception, Mood, and Motor Performance in Children with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness is widely considered effective as a treatment for children and adolescents with aggression, ADHD, or anxiety.” – Lauren Cassani Davis

 

Childhood is a miraculous period during which the child is dynamically absorbing information from every aspect of its environment. This occurs almost without any intervention from the adults as the child appears to be programmed to learn. It is here that behaviors, knowledge, skills, and attitudes are developed that shape the individual. But, what is absorbed depends on the environment. If it is replete with speech, the child will learn speech, if it is replete with trauma, the child will learn fear, if it is replete with academic skills the child will learn these, and if it is replete with interactions with others, the child will learn social skills.

 

Elementary school is an environment that has a huge effect on development. It is also an excellent time to teach children the skills to adaptively negotiate its environment. Mindfulness training in school, at all levels has been shown to have very positive effects. These include academic, cognitive, psychological, and social domains. Importantly, mindfulness training in school appears to improve the student’s self-concept. It also improves attentional ability and reduces stress, which are keys to successful learning in school. Since, what occurs in these early years and in school can have such a profound, long-term effect on the child it is important to further study the impact of mindfulness training on the emotions, behavior, and learning skills of grammar school children.

 

In today’s Research News article “Enhancing Visual Perception and Motor Accuracy among School Children through a Mindfulness and Compassion Program.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323376/

Tarrasch and colleagues explore the ability of mindfulness and compassion training to improve learning relevant skills and emotions in 4th and 5th grade school children. They recruited three schools to participate and assigned classes to either receive mindfulness and compassion training or to a wait-list control condition. Training occurred in 24 weekly, 45-minute meetings, over 7 months. “The sessions were divided into three modes: receiving care, developing self-care and extending care.” They included meditation practice and Loving Kindness Meditation. The children were measured before and after the 7-month training period for visual-motor integration, including visual perception and motor accuracy, anxiety, and mindfulness.

 

They found that, in comparison to the wait-list condition, the mindfulness and compassion training produced significant increases in visual perception, motor accuracy, and mindfulness and decreases in anxiety levels. They also found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the better the motor performance and the lower the anxiety levels. Hence, mindfulness and compassion training in elementary school produced tangible benefits for the children.

 

It should be noted that the wait-list control condition is a relatively weak control condition and these results need to be verified with a randomized controlled clinical trial including an active control condition. In addition, the mindfulness and compassion training was a complex program of many components and it cannot be concluded which ones or which combination of these components were responsible for the effects.

 

Nevertheless, these are exciting findings. Visual perception and motor accuracy have been shown to be predictive of better mathematical and reading ability, both essential to successful school performance. In addition, high anxiety levels have been shown to disrupt school performance, while high levels of mindfulness have been shown to improve school performance. Hence, all of the benefits produced by the mindfulness and compassion training are known to be associated with better achievement in school. Unfortunately, the study did not have a long-term follow-up to determine if improved school performance was a consequence of the benefits of mindfulness and compassion training.

 

So, improve perception, mood, and motor performance in children with mindfulness.

 

“I think that’s the reason that the students are latching on to this because when they’ve had a chance to stop, think, breathe and really kind of feel where they’re at, they know how much stress they’re under finally and now that they are aware of it, they can try to do something about it,” – Layne Millington

 

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

Tarrasch, R., Margalit-Shalom, L., & Berger, R. (2017). Enhancing Visual Perception and Motor Accuracy among School Children through a Mindfulness and Compassion Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 281. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00281

 

Abstract

The present study assessed the effects of the mindfulness/compassion cultivating program: “Call to Care-Israel” on the performance in visual perception (VP) and motor accuracy, as well as on anxiety levels and self-reported mindfulness among 4th and 5th grade students. One hundred and thirty-eight children participated in the program for 24 weekly sessions, while 78 children served as controls. Repeated measures ANOVA’s yielded significant interactions between time of measurement and group for VP, motor accuracy, reported mindfulness, and anxiety. Post hoc tests revealed significant improvements in the four aforementioned measures in the experimental group only. In addition, significant correlations were obtained between the improvement in motor accuracy and the reduction in anxiety and the increase in mindfulness. Since VP and motor accuracy are basic skills associated with quantifiable academic characteristics, such as reading and mathematical abilities, the results may suggest that mindfulness practice has the ability to improve academic achievements.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323376/

Improve Cystic Fibrosis Symptoms in Children with Yoga

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Improve Cystic Fibrosis Symptoms in Children with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“There are two main types of breathwork that are particularly helpful for people with Cystic Fibrosis that can either increase lung capacity or facilitate airway clearance. Any physical activity or breathing exercise that expands the chest, encourages full breath starting with the belly, and includes pauses will help increase lung capacity, whereas any activity or breathing exercise that encourages quick bursts of breath will help clear out the lungs.” – CharmedYogi

 

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease caused by a recessive gene that is a mutation of the normal gene. It is generally diagnosed in early childhood. It is an incurable progressive disease that produces a “thick, buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas and other organs. In the lungs, the mucus clogs the airways and traps bacteria leading to infections, extensive lung damage and eventually, respiratory failure. In the pancreas, the mucus prevents the release of digestive enzymes that allow the body to break down food and absorb vital nutrients.” (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation). The disease results in increasing difficulties with breathing.

 

The persistent lung infections in Cystic Fibrosis lead to a persistent cough, shortness of breath, pneumonia or bronchitis, stunted growth, constipation, poor sleep, and infertility in males. Cystic Fibrosis affects about 30,000 people in the U.S. With modern treatment with lung clearance, inhaled medicine, and pancreatic enzyme replacement, longevity with the disease has increased to about 40 years. Patients, however, suffer from declining health and quality of life over the course of the disease, including increasing anxiety and depression.

 

Exercise can be beneficial for Cystic Fibrosis patients. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation recommends that the exercise chosen is an enjoyable exercise that fits their schedule, connects them socially, and makes the heart and lungs, or bones and muscles stronger. Yoga practice perfectly fits this profile and has been shown to improve lung function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In today’s Research News article “Yoga Therapy in Children with Cystic Fibrosis Decreases Immediate Anxiety and Joint Pain.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5204083/

McNamara and colleagues examine the ability of yoga practice to relieve the symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis in youths aged 7-21 years. They provided individual yoga instruction by certified instructors for 40 minutes in 6 sessions over 10 weeks and were encouraged to practice at home. They were measured before and 2 weeks after the 10-week period for Cystic Fibrosis symptoms, anxiety, depression, pain, sleep, and quality of life. They found that after the yoga intervention there was a significant decrease in anxiety levels and joint pain.

 

These results are interesting and fit with the general findings that yoga practice results in improvements in anxiety and improves joint function.  But, the improvements noted were small. In addition, there was no control condition in this pilot study. So, it is difficult to reach firm conclusions. The fact that the yoga training was confined to 6 individual sessions may not have been sufficient to produce significant benefits. In addition, the lack of a social component in the yoga practice may have limited its impact on quality of life. The results, though, are sufficiently encouraging to justify further research.

 

“Yoga as a complementary therapy may be a valuable option for patients with CF who are experiencing pain or anxiety related to their health, school, or social activities.” Christopher McNamara

 

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

McNamara, C., Johnson, M., Read, L., Vander Velden, H., Thygeson, M., Liu, M., … McNamara, J. (2016). Yoga Therapy in Children with Cystic Fibrosis Decreases Immediate Anxiety and Joint Pain. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM, 2016, 9429504. http://doi.org/10.1155/2016/9429504

 

Abstract

This study was designed to determine whether yoga might alleviate symptoms of pain, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is the most common genetic, life-limiting chronic disease among Caucasian populations. It primarily affects the lungs but also many other secretory organs and consequently leads to significant morbidities. Research has shown that children with CF have significantly increased depression, anxiety, and pain compared to their healthy counterparts. Subjects participated in six one-on-one sessions over a 10-week period with a certified instructor who designed each yoga practice based on a preestablished list of 30 yoga asanas. Questionnaires evaluating pain, sleep disturbance, sustained anxiety, immediate anxiety, and depression were administered. Differences between premeasures and postmeasures were evaluated using a two-sided test. Twenty subjects were assessed (12 females/8 males), median age of 11 (7–20) years. Mean immediate anxiety scores decreased (before session to after session 29 to 23.6, respectively, p < 0.001). Joint pain improved (3.25 to 3.65, p = 0.028). CFQ-R emotion subscale improved from 79.2 to 85 (p = 0.073), and the respiratory subscale improved from 66.7 to 79.2 (p = 0.076). Other results were less notable. We conclude that yoga may reduce immediate anxiety and joint pain in patients with CF.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5204083/

 

Improve High Level Cognitive Function in Traumatized Adolescents with Yoga

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Improve High Level Cognitive Function in Traumatized Adolescents with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“With the girls in India, I’ve found that they most enjoy Thai massage, partner yoga, and expansive, “outer- focused” yoga. I believe that they greatly benefit from receiving loving touch, and they love watching an adult yoga teacher acting silly! It is rare that they share a dynamic with an adult that is not structured. With our volunteers, we have the opportunity to teach them yoga as a source of play, connection, laughter. The giggles abound, but when meditation time comes they are very observant.” – Rob Schware

 

Adolescence can be a difficult time, fraught with challenges. During this time the child transitions to young adulthood; including the development of intellectual, psychological, physical, and social abilities and characteristics. There are so many changes occurring during this time that the child can feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with all that is required. These difficulties can be markedly amplified by negative life events during childhood. Losing both parents during childhood is traumatic. It occurs to an estimated 13 million children worldwide. Many are raised by relatives, but, many also end up in orphanages.

 

Adolescence should be a time of mental, physical, social, and emotional growth. It is during this time that higher levels of thinking, sometimes called executive function, develops. These executive functions are an important foundation for success in the complex modern world. Being orphaned is severely traumatic and it is well known that trauma during childhood disrupts cognitive development. It has even been shown to affect brain development. So, it is important to find methods to mitigate the effects of this trauma on orphans’ development.

 

Yoga practice has been shown to have a large number of beneficial effects on the psychological, emotional, and physical health of the individual and is helpful in the treatment of mental and physical illness. The acceptance of yoga practice has spread from the home and yoga studios to its application with children in schools. Studies of these school programs have found that yoga practice produces a wide variety of positive psychosocial and physical benefits. These include improved mood state, self-control, social abilities, self-regulation, emotion regulation, self-esteem, and ability to focus. In addition, yoga practice produces improvements in student grades and academic performance. They have also shown that the yoga practice produces lower levels of anxiety, depression, general distress, rumination, and intrusive thoughts.

 

It is reasonable then to hypothesize that yoga practice might help the intellectual development of orphans. In today’s Research News article “Effect of yoga program on executive functions of adolescents dwelling in an orphan home: A randomized controlled study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198826/

Purohit and Pradhan recruited adolescents (aged 11 to 16 years) residing in an orphanage. They randomly assigned the orphans to either receive yoga training or to a wait-list control condition. The yoga practice occurred 90 minutes per day, 4 days per week, for 3 months, and consisted of relaxation, postures, breathing exercises, and concentration. Before and after treatment the adolescents were administered a number of tests of executive function, including memory, cognitive inhibition, processing speed, mental flexibility, and decision making.

 

They found that the orphans who practiced yoga had significant improvements in overall cognition, executive functions, cognitive inhibition, memory, attention, and processing speed. These effects all occurred with moderate effect sizes. Hence, yoga practice appeared to produce improved higher level thinking in the orphans. The weakness in the study was that the control condition was a wait-list. Future research should contain active control conditions such as light exercise, group interactions etc. to demonstrate that the effects were due to yoga practice itself and not to a number of possible confounding factors.

 

There is no doubt, though, that these traumatized children benefited from the yoga practice. Anything that can improve the life and mental capabilities of these children is a step forward and a help to these emotionally needy adolescents, make their lives more enjoyable, and help toward future success.

 

So, improve high level cognitive function in traumatized adolescents with yoga.

 

“In essence, yoga is a practice of service to humanity. Yoga is a tool of transformation. With that transformed Self, you can show up for others and be of service.” – Mark Lilly

 

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

Purohit, S. P., & Pradhan, B. (2017). Effect of yoga program on executive functions of adolescents dwelling in an orphan home: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 7(1), 99–105. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.03.001

 

Abstract

Executive function (EF) is important for physical and mental health of children. Studies have shown that children with poverty and early life stress have reduced EF. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Yoga program on the EF of orphan adolescents. Seventy two apparently healthy orphan adolescents randomized and allocated into two groups as Yoga group (n = 40; 14 girls, age = 12.69 ± 1.35 yrs) and Wait List Control (WLC) group (n = 32, 13 girls, age = 12.58 ± 1.52 yrs). Yoga group underwent three months of Yoga program in a schedule of 90 min per day, four days per week whereas the WLC group followed the routine activities. They were assessed by Stroop Color-Word Task, Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Digits Span Test and Trial Making Test (TMT) at the beginning and end of the program.

The repeated measures ANOVA showed significant difference in time and group interactions (p < 0.05) for all subtests of Stroop Color-Word Task and Digit Span Test and part-A of TMT whereas there were no significant difference found in DSST and TMT (part-B).

The post-hoc test with Bonferroni adjustment also showed significant improvements (p < 0.001) within the Yoga group in all test scores while in wrong score of DSST did not exhibit significant reduction. Whereas the WLC group, showed significant improvement (p < 0.05) in Stroop Color, Color-Word score, net score of DSST, Digit Span forward and Digit Span Total.

Three months Yoga program was found useful for the young orphan adolescents in improving their executive functions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198826/