Increase Connectedness by Meditating in Pairs

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Increase Connectedness by Meditating in Pairs

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Couples meditation provides a great way for you and your partner to tune your instruments to one another. By taking a few minutes to meditate with your partner, you greatly increase your chances of having meaningful conversation and intimate connection. Couples meditation is a way of bringing your emotional state and psychological rhythms into alignment.” –  John Wise

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. As a result, meditation training has been called the third wave of therapies. One problem with understanding meditation effects is that there are, a wide variety of meditation techniques and it is not known which work best for improving different conditions. Also, meditation occurs in a variety of social conditions. It is practiced, alone, with another, dyad, or with groups of varying sizes. It is not known what the effects, if any, of these different social conditions might be on the effectiveness of meditation practice.

 

Four types of meditation are the most commonly used practices for research purposes. In body scan meditation, the individual focuses on the feelings and sensations of specific parts of the body, systematically moving attention from one area to another. Loving kindness meditation is designed to develop kindness and compassion to oneself and others. The individual systematically pictures different individuals from self, to close friends, to enemies and wishes them happiness, well-being, safety, peace, and ease of well-being. In focused attention meditation, the individual practices paying attention to a single meditation object, learns to filter out distracting stimuli, including thoughts, and learns to stay focused on the present moment, filtering out thoughts centered around the past or future. On the other hand, in open monitoring meditation, the individual opens up awareness to everything that’s being experienced regardless of its origin. These include bodily sensations, external stimuli, and even thoughts. The meditator just observes these stimuli and lets them arise, and fall away without paying them any further attention.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Contemplative Dyads on Engagement and Perceived Social Connectedness Over 9 Months of Mental Training: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” See:summary below, Kok and Singer investigate the effectiveness of loving kindness meditation and open monitoring meditation practiced in dyads; meditating in pairs. They recruited normal adults aged between 20 to 55 and randomly assigned them to two different orders of conditions in a complex research design. Training in meditation began with a 3-day retreat, followed by 3 months of home-based breath focused attention and body scan meditations practiced in pairs, dyads. The first group of participants then spent 3 months practicing loving kindness meditation in combination with a taking turns for 5-minutes describing feelings and bodily sensations during a difficult situation. The next 3 months they practiced open monitoring meditation in combination with a taking turns for 5-minutes describing a recent situation from the perspective of a randomly assigned “inner part.,” e.g. “the judge” or “the loving mother.” The second group reversed the order to these home-based 3-month dyadic practices.  The participants reported daily on their feeling states, contents of thought, meta-cognition, closeness to their partner, valence, and arousal.

 

They found that the participants liked the loving kindness meditation segment best. Self-disclosures increased and became more personal over the training but this did not differ between conditions. Both conditions also produced significant increases in felt closeness to the partner, but the loving kindness meditation segment produced the greatest increase and the fastest rate of increase in this sense of connectedness.

 

These results suggest that meditating in pairs is an effective technique producing the usual benefits of meditation and also a social benefit of increasing felt closeness and self-disclosure. This could help in relieving loneliness that is often associated with depression. Loving kindness meditation appeared to be best in promoting these social benefits. Future research needs to investigate the impact of this improved social connectedness on the physical and mental health of the participants. This research is a step in the right direction of better understanding the consequences of different meditation types performed in different social conditions. Such an understanding should improve the targeting of specific meditation techniques to specific physical or psychological needs.

 

So, increase connectedness by meditating in pairs.

 

 “If you are partnered perhaps either you haven’t felt as connected as you used to or things are going great but you want to make them even better. In either case, meditating together daily, or as often as possible, could make a big difference in the quality of your relationship.” – Your Tango

 

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

Kok BE, Singer T. Effects of Contemplative Dyads on Engagement and Perceived Social Connectedness Over 9 Months of Mental Training A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online December 28, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3360

 

Key Points

Question  Can 2 newly developed dyadic contemplative exercises increase perceived social connectedness?

Findings  In this randomized clinical trial of 242 healthy adults, social closeness increased during a 10-minute dyadic practice session for both the socioaffective affect dyad and the sociocognitive perspective dyad. Furthermore, predyad social closeness and self-disclosure increased significantly for both dyads over the 3 months of a given training module.

Meaning  Contemplative dyadic exercises may effectively prevent or reduce the detrimental effects of loneliness and the social deficits often observed in many psychopathologies by increasing perceived social connectedness.

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:

Loneliness is a risk factor for depression and other illnesses and may be caused and reinforced by maladaptive social cognition. Secularized classical meditation training programs address social cognition, but practice typically occurs alone. Little is known about the effectiveness of contemplative practice performed in dyads.

OBJECTIVE:

To introduce and assess the effectiveness of contemplative dyadic practices relative to classical-solitary meditation with regard to engagement and perceived social connectedness.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:

The ReSource Project was a 9-month open-label efficacy trial of three, 3-month secularized mental training modules. Replacement randomization was used to assign 362 healthy participants in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. Eligible participants were recruited between November 11, 2012, and February 13, 2013, and between November 13, 2013, and April 30, 2014. Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted.

INTERVENTIONS:

Breathing meditation and body scan (the presence module), loving-kindness meditation and affect dyad (the affect module), and observing-thoughts meditation and perspective dyad (the perspective module).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:

Primary outcomes were self-disclosure and social closeness. Engagement measures included compliance (ie, the mean [95% margin of error] number of meditation sessions that a participant engaged in per week), liking, and motivation to practice.

RESULTS:

Thirty participants dropped out after assignment to 3 experimental groups; 90 participants were assigned to a retest control that did not complete the main outcome measures; 16 participants provided no state-change data for the affect and perspective modules (226 remaining participants; mean age of 41.15 years; 59.3% female). Results are aggregated across training cohorts. Compliance was similar across the modules: loving-kindness meditation (3.78 [0.18] sessions), affect dyad (3.59 [0.14] sessions), observing-thoughts meditation (3.63 [0.20] sessions), and perspective dyad (3.24 [0.18] sessions). Motivation was higher for meditation (11.20 [0.40] sessions) than the dyads (9.26 [0.43] sessions) and was higher for the affect dyad (10.11 [0.46] sessions) than the perspective dyad (8.41 [0.46] sessions). Social closeness increased during a session for the affect dyad (1.49 [0.12] sessions) and the perspective dyad (1.06 [0.12] sessions) and increased over time for the affect dyad (slope of 0.016 [0.003]) and the perspective dyad (slope of 0.012 [0.003]). Self-disclosure increased over time for the affect dyad (slope of 0.023 [0.004]) and the perspective dyad (slope of 0.006 [0.005]), increasing more steeply for the affect dyad (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:

Contemplative dyads elicited engagement similar to classical contemplative practices and increased perceived social connectedness. Contemplative dyads represent a new type of intervention targeting social connectedness and intersubjective capacities deficient in participants who experience loneliness and in many psychopathologies.

Where Can Permanence be Found?

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Where Can Permanence be Found?

 

By John M. de Castro

 

“We suffer from a hallucination, from a false and distorted sensation of our own existence as living organisms. It is almost banal to say so, yet it needs to be stressed continually: all is creation, all is change, all is flux, all is metamorphosis.” – Alan Watts

 

There is a prevalent delusion that there is permanence and stability in our existence. In fact, we so expect it that we are upset when things change. In truth, permanence is hard to find when one looks. Our immediate experience is constantly changing. As the Buddha taught, it’s impermanent. This is clear as sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and touches come and go constantly. They never stick around for long.

 

It’s a little harder to notice that our bodies are also constantly changing. It happens at a slower rate than immediate experience, but is constantly happening nonetheless. Over time every cell in our body degenerates and is replaced. We take in new molecules in the forms of air, water, and nutrients, using them to fuel the body and grow and replace tissues and excrete old and toxic molecules in the breath, sweat, and elimination processes. These ongoing processes mean that we are physically different than we were just a few minutes ago. This is most evident in the maturation process, growing, developing, maturing, and aging. Hence, not only our experience but also our physiology is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

The mind seems reasonably constant. But, with a little study and reflection, it can be seen that it too is constantly changing. We learn and change as we grow, acquiring language and mathematics, fundamentally changing the mind, from purely experiential to conceptual, from present moment to future planning, and as we acquire memories, from present to past. Increasingly the mind moves away from raw present moment experience to memories of the past and images of the future. From moment to moment our thoughts and images are changing. Hence, not only our experience and physiology but also our mind is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

But, surely there is permanence in our world. The ground we stand on is solid and unmoving. It is apparently unchanging and permanent. But, this is an illusion produced by the limited time spans that we directly experience. Every aspect of the earth itself is also changing and impermanent. We recently spent a week exploring the National Parks in Utah. The rock formations and canyons teach lessons that are written in a time frame that extends, not days or years or decades, or even millennia, but in billions of years. It’s recorded in geological time. To see the impermanence, it is necessary to view the parks from the perspective of this time frame. When one does, it becomes clear that everything about the earth is in motion, including the very ground under our feet.

 

We learned that the sand under our feet in Utah was formed from eroding sandstone that itself was formed from the erosion of the Appalachian Mountains, being washed westward by erosion into the rivers, forming a shoreline that millions of years ago was located in what is now Utah. As the Colorado Plateau raised up these sands formed into sandstone. This sandstone has been in turn eroding and washing toward the west coast. In fact, it has already formed sandstone in California. Hence, it has moved and reformed only to have it eroded moved and reformed again. It has, is, and will be in constant motion. But, not in human time rather in geologic time.

 

I spent reflective time looking over the Sulphur Creek Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park. It was carved 800 feet into the Colorado Plateau by erosion from the movement of water in Sulphur Creek. It took over 6 million years to carve the canyon. Here were 280 million years of geological changes right in front of my eyes. The lowest layers near the current creek bed were formed over 280 million years ago when this was the edge of the Pacific Ocean and the layer is composed of ancient sand dunes which as stated above originated in the sandstone of the Appalachian Mountains. Looking carefully and contemplatively at the canyon walls, I could see the aliveness of the earth, its impermanence. To put this in perspective, what I was looking at was actually only a small part of the 4.5 billion years of geological changes that we call the Earth. Hence, not only our experience, physiology, and mind but also the earth itself is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

Again, not apparent in the human life timeframe, but the entire universe itself is impermanent. Throughout its 13.8 billion-year history it has been constantly changing. Starting with the “Big Bang” itself to the present moment, stars have been created, matured, aged, and died, sometimes spectacularly in supernova, sometimes forming nebula, and sometimes collapsing into black holes. During their lives they’ve been moving further apart from each other as the universe continues expanding. Around the stars, planets, comets, etc. have formed each of which constantly changes and their fates determined by their constantly changing stars. Eventually, they all will cease existence in their current forms and their matter and energy will be redistributed into other forms.

 

This is disconcerting. There doesn’t appear to be any permanence whatsoever, anywhere. Everything is in constant motion. In fact, one might think that the only thing that appears to be permanent is impermanence itself. But, wait a second, what a revelation! This is actually a helpful mindset. If impermanence is embraced, then the effort to keep everything the same ceases. Instead, impermanence is accepted. Once it is embraced, the beauty and grandeur of the constantly changing internal and external landscape becomes evident. Change is beautiful and wonderful when one ceases to fight it. Knowing that we are constantly changing means that there are always opportunities to reinvent ourselves, to move in new and exciting directions, to grow and develop, and to be happy with life. Knowing that others are constantly changing means that we can discard our stereotypes and expectations about them. They will be different tomorrow than they are today. They can reinvent themselves, grow, develop and learn to enjoy the ever changing life they’ve been given. Seeing the impermanence can make our mortality more evident, focusing us more on the present moment and what is most important in our lives. In other words, accepting, indeed relishing, impermanence can transform our lives, making them happier, richer, fuller, and with deeper meaning than ever before.

 

Adopting this, we are now positioned to observe the one thing that does appear to be permanent in our existence; our awareness. Not what we are aware of, as that’s constantly changing, but, that which is aware of that content. It never seems to change. The content changes but the awareness itself does not. It’s been the same from our earliest memories of being aware, to the present moment, unchanging and ever present. Because it doesn’t change, we have a hard time becoming aware of it. Our minds have evolved to detect change as changes are the most significant events in the environment. They can contribute to or threaten our very survival. So, they stand out. But, in the background, mostly unnoticed, is this mysterious, magical, spiritual thing, awareness.

 

Grasp it, enjoy it, observe the wonder of it. It was seeing this that led the Buddha to his enlightenment. This has also been true for countless sages, mystics, saints, and yogis. Clearing away the delusion of permanence of everything else opens the eyes to the primacy of awareness in all of existence. This revelation is itself a spiritual revelation, opening a path to ultimate understanding of existence.

 

So, find permanence by seeing impermanence.

 

“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
― Robert Frost

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

 

Promote Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Self-Compassion and Attachment Security

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Promote Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Self-Compassion and Attachment Security

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The relentless search for high self-esteem has become a virtual religion; and a tyrannical one at that. Our competitive culture tells us we need to be special and above average to feel good about ourselves, but we can’t all be above average at the same time. There is always someone richer, more attractive, or successful than we are. And even when we do manage to feel self-esteem for one golden moment, we can’t hold on to it. Our sense of self-worth bounces around like a ping-pong ball, rising and falling in lock-step with our latest success or failure.” – William Morrow

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to have a myriad of positive benefits for the physical and psychological health of the individual. It has also been shown to be beneficial for those suffering from a wide range of physical and mental diseases. But, it cannot produce it’s benefits unless the individual actually engages in the practice. One of the biggest problems in all of medicine is compliance. Although, treatments are prescribed, few actually follow the recommendations. So, it is extremely important to investigate the factors that promote and prevent compliance. In the case of mindfulness trainings, it is important to study what increases the likelihood of engaging in the practices and what impedes it.

 

In today’s Research News article “Attachment Security and Self-Compassion Priming Increase the Likelihood that First-time Engagers in Mindfulness Meditation Will Continue with Mindfulness Training.” See:summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859852/

Rowe and colleagues investigate the role played by two factors, self-compassion and attachment security in influencing the willingness of individuals to engage in future mindfulness training.

 

They recruited young, 18-35 years of age, healthy, participants who did not practice mindfulness techniques and randomly assigned them to receive either primes that elicit self-compassion, or elicit attachment security, or a neutral prime. The participants were measured for perceived stress and mindfulness and then were simply asked to visualize one of three situations. In the self-compassion condition, they were asked to ‘visualize and write about being completely compassionate and warm towards yourself’. In the secure attachment prime condition, they were instructed to take some time to ‘visualize and write about a person with whom you have, or have had, a close secure relationship’. In the neutral condition, they were instructed to visualize a recent and unaccompanied shopping trip. Participants then wrote about the theme of the prime for 10 minutes. They were then instructed on mindfulness and given a 7-minute guided mindful breathing meditation. Afterwards, they were measured for felt security, compassion towards self, compassion towards others, mindfulness, subjective energy, and their willingness to engage in further mindfulness training.

 

They found that both the self-compassion and the attachment security primes resulted in a greater felt security, compassion towards self. They both also significantly increased the participants’ willingness to engage in further mindfulness training in comparison to the neutral condition. But the two differed in the method by which they affected the participants’ willingness. The attachment security prime affected willingness directly while the self-compassion prime affected mindfulness which in turn affected willingness.

 

These are interesting results that indicate that attachment security and self-compassion may be factors affecting the participants’ willingness to engage in further mindfulness training. This is a step forward in investigating the factors affecting compliance with mindfulness practice. It would appear that developing self-compassion and attachment security might be effective in promoting compliance. There is obviously much more work to do. But, this is an interesting start to improving the likelihood that participants will engage in mindfulness practice.

 

So, promote engagement in mindfulness training with self-compassion and attachment security.

 

“The main predictor of how well your child will do in school and in life is the strength of the relationship he or she has with you, the parent or primary caretaker. This relationship impacts your child’s future mental, physical, social, and emotional health. It is not founded on quality of care or parental love, but on the nonverbal emotional communication between child and parent known as the attachment bond.” – Jeanne Segal

 

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 Twitter @MindfulReseaarch

 

Study Summary

Rowe, A. C., Shepstone, L., Carnelley, K. B., Cavanagh, K., & Millings, A. (2016). Attachment Security and Self-compassion Priming Increase the Likelihood that First-time Engagers in Mindfulness Meditation Will Continue with Mindfulness Training. Mindfulness, 7, 642–650. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0499-7

 

Abstract

Mindfulness practice has many mental and physical health benefits but can be perceived as ‘difficult’ by some individuals. This perception can discourage compliance with mindfulness meditation training programs. The present research examined whether the activation of thoughts and feelings related to attachment security and self-compassion (through semantic priming) prior to a mindfulness meditation session might influence willingness to engage in future mindfulness training. We expected both of these primes to positively influence participants’ willingness to continue with mindfulness training. We primed 117 meditation-naïve individuals (84 female; mean age of 22.3 years, SD = 4.83) with either a self-compassion, attachment security, or a neutral control prime prior to an introductory mindfulness exercise and measured their post-session willingness to engage in further training. Both experimental primes resulted in higher willingness to engage in further mindfulness training relative to the control condition. The self-compassion prime did so indirectly by increasing state mindfulness, while the attachment security prime had a direct effect. This study supports theoretical links between self-compassion and mindfulness and reveals a causal role for these factors in promoting willingness to engage in mindfulness training. Our findings have implications for improving compliance with mindfulness intervention programs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859852/

Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

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Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“This systematic review found strong evidence for short-term effectiveness and moderate evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga for chronic low back pain in the most important patient-centered outcomes. Yoga can be recommended as an additional therapy to chronic low back pain patients.” – Holger Cramer

 

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

 

Pain involves both physical and psychological issues. The stress, fear, and anxiety produced by pain tends to elicit responses that actually amplify the pain. So, reducing the emotional reactions to pain may be helpful in pain management. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve emotion regulation producing more adaptive and less maladaptive responses to emotions. Indeed, mindfulness practices are effective in treating pain and have been shown to be safe and effective in the management of low back pain. Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits. These include relief of chronic pain. Yoga practice has also been shown to be effective for the relief of chronic low-back pain.  Many forms of yoga focus on the proper alignment of the spine, which could directly address the source of back and neck pain for many individuals. So, it makes sense to further explore the effectiveness of yoga therapy for chronic low back pain and the structure of the spine.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Pain and Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based (MRI-Based) Structural Spine Changes in Low Back Pain Patients After Yoga Practice.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1481032081920713/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5031167/

Telles and colleagues recruited patients with degenerative intervertebral discs and randomly assigned them to either yoga or treatment as usual waitlist control groups. The yoga group engaged in light exercises and specific physical yoga postures, breathing exercises, and chanting and yoga relaxation techniques, for one hour per day for 3 months. Before and after treatment the participants were measured for pain, anxiety, and spine flexibility. To look at potential structural alteration, the participants’ spines were measured employing Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

 

They found that yoga practice produced a significant reduction in both pain levels and anxiety. There were no significant changes found in spine flexibility or the structure of the spine including nerve compression, endplate changes, and facet joint change. Hence yoga practice was shown to be effective in reducing subjective pain and the anxiety produced by it. This is in line with previous research but it was disappointing not to see changes in spine flexibility or structure. It appears that yoga practice is safe and moderately effective in treating patients with degenerative intervertebral discs.

 

So, relieve back pain with yoga.

 

“Yoga focuses a great deal of attention to developing both balance and flexibility. Improper spinal alignment can cause back pain and decrease range of motion in the spine. Yoga postures focus on elongating the spine and rediscovering the spine’s range of motion. Practicing a few yoga stretches after work can help straighten and strengthen your spine.” – Nicole Carlin

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Telles, S., Bhardwaj, A. K., Gupta, R. K., Sharma, S. K., Monro, R., & Balkrishna, A. (2016). A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Pain and Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based (MRI-Based) Structural Spine Changes in Low Back Pain Patients After Yoga Practice. Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 22, 3238–3247. http://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.896599

 

Abstract

Background:

The present study aimed at determining whether 12 weeks of yoga practice in patients with chronic LBP and MRI-based degenerative changes would result in differences in: (i) self-reported pain, anxiety, and spinal flexibility; and (ii) the structure of the discs or vertebrae.

Material/Methods:

Sixty-two persons with MRI-proven degenerative intervertebral discs (group mean ±S.D., 36.2±6.4 years; 30 females) were randomly assigned to yoga and control groups. However, testing was conducted on only 40 subjects, so only their data are included in this study. The assessments were: self-reported pain, state anxiety, spinal flexibility, and MRI of the lumbosacral spine, performed using a 1.5 Tesla system with a spinal surface column. The yoga group was taught light exercises, physical postures, breathing techniques, and yoga relaxation techniques for 1 hour daily for 3 months. No intervention was given to the control group except for routine medical care. A repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analyses (which was Bonferroni-adjusted) was used. The Ethics Committee of Patanjali Research Foundation had approved the study which had been registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2012/11/003094).

Results:

The yoga group showed a significant reduction in self-reported pain and state anxiety in a before/after comparison at 12 weeks. A few patients in both groups showed changes in the discs and vertebrae at post-intervention assessment.

Conclusions:

Within 12 weeks, yoga practice reduced pain and state anxiety but did not alter MRI-proven changes in the intervertebral discs and in the vertebrae.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5031167/

 

Improve Well-Being with Mindfulness

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Improve Well-Being with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“We believe that mindfulness—with its many benefits being increasingly corroborated through an array of scholarly approaches—is reaching a tipping point of being accepted, like physical exercise, as an essential element of well-being.” – Shalini Bahl

 

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn). It has been shown to be highly related to the health and well-being of the individual. Mindfulness training 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. As a result, mindfulness training has been called the third wave of therapies. In fact, though, little is known about how training improves mindfulness.

 

Neuroticism is considered a personality trait that is a lasting characteristic of the individual. It is characterized by negative feelings, repetitive thinking about the past (rumination), and worry about the future, moodiness and loneliness. It appears to be linked to vulnerability to stress. People who have this characteristic are not happy with life and have a low subjective sense of well-being and recognize that this state is unacceptable. There is some hope for people with high neuroticism as this relatively stable characteristic appears to be lessened by mindfulness training.

 

Well-being and neuroticism are two sides of a coin; one is a pleasant, healthful, and sought after state while the other is its opposite, an unpleasant, unhealthful, and avoided state. It is amazing that so little is known about treating neuroticism and promoting well-being. It is clear that mindfulness training helps with both. But mindfulness is a complex idea and there are many facets to mindfulness. Perhaps a better understanding of the role of these various facets in promoting well-being and treating neuroticism would lead to even better treatments.

 

In today’s Research News article “Dimensions of Mindfulness and Their Relations with Psychological Well-Being and Neuroticism.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1480193735337881/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2

Iani and colleagues investigated the association of five different facets of mindfulness, Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging of Experience, and Non-reacting to Experience. They recruited normal adults aged 21 to 84 and had them complete paper and pencil scales of the five facets of mindfulness, 6 facets of neuroticism, including anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness, immoderation, and vulnerability, subjective well-being, including satisfaction with life and subjective happiness, and psychological well-being, including 6 facets of self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. They then analyzed the associates between these variables.

 

They found that mindfulness in general and in particular describing and acting with awareness were strongly associated with psychological well-being, particularly with autonomy, personal growth, and purpose in life. Hence, the greater the ability to clearly describe experience yet act on it appropriately, the greater the positive functioning in life with autonomy, growth, and purpose. On the other hand, only the mindfulness facets of describing and nonreactivity were significantly correlated with both the subjective well-being facets of satisfaction with life and subjective happiness. So, being able to clearly describe experience yet not over-react to it appears to be very important for feeling good about life and general happiness. Neuroticism, particularly anxiety, depression, and vulnerability, was negatively associated with the mindfulness facets of nonreactivity and nonjudging. In other words, the more the individual does not judge nor over-react to experience the lower the levels of negative feelings.

 

These results are interesting and further refine our understanding of the relationship of mindfulness to well-being and neuroticism. In particular, the ability to function at a high level in life is associated with the ability to clearly describe experience yet act on it appropriately. While, feeling satisfied with life and happy is associated with the ability to clearly describe experience yet not over-react to it. Finally, less negative feelings are associated with the ability to not judge nor over-react to experience.

 

So, cultivate mindfulness in all its facets and have a life that is satisfying and happy, with fewer negative feelings, and functioning with autonomy, growth, and purpose. It is no wonder that mindfulness has become such an important skill for health and well-being in the modern world.

 

“Anxiety, depression, and stress/distress are different components of negative affect. When we combined each component of negative affect, we saw a small and consistent signal that any domain of negative affect is improved in mindfulness programs” – Madhav Goyal

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Iani, L., Lauriola, M., Cafaro, V. et al. Dimensions of Mindfulness and Their Relations with Psychological Well-Being and Neuroticism. Mindfulness (2016). doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2

 

Abstract

In this study we examined whether differences in the habitual use of mindfulness skills were associated with specific well-being and neuroticism aspects. Two hundred eleven volunteers aged 21–84 years completed measures of mindfulness, neuroticism, psychological well-being (PWB), and subjective well-being (SWB). Describing, observing, and acting with awareness (i.e., the mindfulness “what” skills) were positively correlated with personal growth, purpose in life, and autonomy (i.e., the “core” eudaimonic components of PWB). Nonreactivity and nonjudging (i.e., the mindfulness “how” skills) were negatively associated with neuroticism aspects, such as withdrawal (e.g., depression) and volatility (e.g., anger). Describing and nonreactivity were the only mindfulness skills significantly correlated with the SWB measures. Acting with awareness mediated the effect of both withdrawal and volatility on eudaimonic well-being outcomes. Describing had consistent mediation effects across all well-being measures, but only for the withdrawal aspect. Nonreactivity and nonjudging did not mediated withdrawal when considering eudaimonic well-being as outcomes. Mediation effects for nonjudging and nonreactivity were found between volatility and SWB markers as well as between volatility and self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others (i.e., the “other” eudaimonic PWB components). In sum, the mindfulness “what” skills were important for eudaimonic well-being, especially for internalizing individuals. Authors discuss the usefulness of a facet-level analysis of mindfulness for examining incremental validity of some facets over others in accounting for different well-being outcomes measures. Clinical implications are also discussed.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2

 

Feel Depressed About a Disease, Try Mindfulness

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Feel Depressed About a Disease, Try Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Depression can be the dead hand of the past. Our longing for what we’re missing has a hold on us. If we feel helpless about our situation and don’t feel we can change it, we are likely to remain depressed. If we can mobilize our feelings of hopefulness, if we see that hope is justified and act on it, then our mood will improve.” – James Gordon

 

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common form of mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. In general, it involves feelings of sadness, emptiness or hopelessness, irritability or frustration, loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, sleep disturbances, tiredness and lack of energy, anxiety, agitation, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself for things that aren’t your responsibility, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts or completed suicide. Needless to say, individuals with depression are miserable and need help.

 

There are numerous causes of depression, one being coping with a chronic physical disease. Indeed, between 9% to 23% of people diagnosed with a chronic physical disease become depressed. Although, there have been many studies of treatments for depression, there are very few that target just patients with physical diseases and comorbid depression. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was developed specifically to treat depression and has been found to reduce depression alone or in combination with anti-depressive drugs.  MBCT involves mindfulness training, containing sitting and walking meditation and body scan, and cognitive therapy to alter how the patient relates to the thought processes that often underlie and exacerbate depression. Hence, it is reasonable to study the effects of MBCT on patients who suffer with chronic physical disease and comorbid depression.

 

In today’s Research News article “Group and Individual Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Are Both Effective: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial in Depressed People with a Somatic Disease.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1479247762099145/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0575-z

Schroevers and colleagues recruited adults, 18 to 70 years of age who have been diagnosed with a chronic physical disease and comorbid depression. They were randomly assigned to receive 8-weeks, 60-minutes, once a week, with home practice, of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) administered either individually or in a group of 8-12 patients. Before and after treatment and 3-months later the patients completed measures of depression, anxiety, positive well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion.

 

They found that, regardless of whether MBCT was administered individually or in a group format, produced clinically significant improvements in depression, anxiety, positive well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion. The sizes of the effects were large and they were maintained at 3-month follow-up. These results are encouraging and extend the range of applications of MBCT for depression to those who are depressed due to a chronic physical condition. They also suggest that using the much more efficient and cost effective group treatment method does not produce any reduction in benefits.

 

It should be mentioned that there was no control condition. So, the results have to be interpreted cautiously. Nevertheless, these kinds of effects have been demonstrated previously with randomized controlled clinical trials with depressed patients. These have demonstrated effectiveness reducing depression, and anxiety, and increasing positive well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion So, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the effects observed with patients with chronic physical disease and comorbid depression were due to MBCT treatment and not a confounding factor.

 

So, if you feel depressed about a disease, try mindfulness.

 

“Most of us have issues that we find hard to let go and mindfulness can help us deal with them more productively. We can ask: ‘Is trying to solve this by brooding about it helpful, or am I just getting caught up in my thoughts?’ Awareness of this kind also helps us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and helps us deal with them better.” – Mark Williams

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Schroevers, M.J., Tovote, K.A., Snippe, E. et al. Group and Individual Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Are Both Effective: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial in Depressed People with a Somatic Disease. Mindfulness (2016) 7: 1339. doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0575-z

 

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are commonly reported by individuals suffering from a chronic medical condition. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been shown to be an effective psychological intervention for reducing depressive symptoms in a range of populations. MBCT is traditionally given in a group format. The aim of the current pilot RCT was to examine the effects of group-based MBCT and individually based MBCT for reducing depressive symptoms in adults suffering from one or more somatic diseases. In this study, 56 people with a somatic condition and comorbid depressive symptoms (i.e., Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II] ≥14) were randomized to group MBCT (n = 28) or individual MBCT (n = 28). Patients filled out questionnaires at three points in time (i.e., pre-intervention, post-intervention, 3 months follow-up). Primary outcome measure was severity of depressive symptoms. Anxiety and positive well-being as well as mindfulness and self-compassion were also assessed. We found significant improvements in all outcomes in those receiving group or individual MBCT, with no significant differences between the two conditions regarding these improvements. Although preliminary (given the pilot nature and lack of control group), results suggest that both group MBCT and individual MBCT are associated with improvements in psychological well-being and enhanced skills of mindfulness and self-compassion in individuals with a chronic somatic condition and comorbid depressive symptoms. Our findings merit future non-inferiority trials in larger samples to be able to draw more firm conclusions about the effectiveness of both formats of MBCT.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0575-z

Meditation Practice Amplifies Awareness of the Cause of an Event

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Meditation Practice Amplifies Awareness of the Cause of an Event

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“What is an illusion is when you are looking but not seeing completely, listening but also daydreaming. To walk around half perceiving and half in a daydream, this is to walk around in an illusion and in a dream. What is worse is when the dreams of the mind cloud perception.” –  Brian Miles

 

Meditation, by training and improving attention to everything that occurs, is thought to produce a greater awareness of cause and effect. This is particularly evident in recognizing when an event was caused by one’s own volitional actions. One way to measure this is called “Intentional binding.” It refers to the subjectively reported time compression that occurs between an intentional action and its outcome when compared to the timing of an action alone and of an event that does not depend upon an action” (Haggard, Clark and Kalogeras 2002). In other words, when an event is perceived to have been produced intentionally, the time between the cause and effect is experienced as shorter than if there was no intention involved.

 

It would be predicted, then, that if experienced meditators had better attentional ability that they should show greater “Intentional binding” than non-meditators; they should estimate less time between a cause and an effect when they are the initiator of the event than when they are not.. In today’s Research News article “Illusory Temporal Binding in Meditators.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1478243438866244/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0583-z/fulltext.html

Lush and colleagues examine this prediction. They recruited experienced meditators with on average 15 years of experience and a group of age and gender matched non-meditators. The participants either initiated the presentation of a tone by pressing a button which produced the tone a quarter of a second later or simply observed the tone presented by the computer. After a delay the participants move a clock hand to the time that they experienced the tone occurring. The difference between the actual time and the perceived time of the tone was measured. “Intentional binding” was measured by the difference between the errors for the intentional and the non-intentional conditions.

 

They found that meditators errors were significantly greater in estimating the time of occurrence of the tone as earlier when they initiated the tone than when they didn’t. This suggests greater “Intentional binding” for the meditators than the matched non-meditators. Although this is a fairly indirect way of measuring the individual’s ability to recognize the cause of an event, it suggests that meditation improves the individual’s ability to recognize intention. This, in turn, suggests that meditation training makes an individual more aware of agency, that is what caused and event to occur.

 

These results further document the improvements in attentional ability produced by meditation practice. In this case the attention to the cause of events occurring in their experience. Meditation practice appears to alter our mental processing of experience heightening our attention to and awareness of what is occurring around us. Since most modern people are constantly distracted and rarely in contact with what is actually happening around them in the present moment, meditation practice would appear to be an antidote to the modern disease of inattention to the present.

 

“Whether you’re interested in mindfulness or cognitive neuroscience, perception is at the heart of your work with others.  Helping people become aware of their perceptions assists them in counterbalancing a tendency to become awash with their affect.“ – Megan Van Meter

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Lush, P., Parkinson, J. & Dienes, Z. Illusory Temporal Binding in Meditators.  Mindfulness (2016) 7: 1416. doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0583-z

 

Abstract

We investigate conditions in which more accurate metacognition may lead to greater susceptibility to illusion and thus conditions under which mindfulness meditation may lead to less accurate perceptions. Specifically, greater awareness of intentions may lead to an illusory compression of time between a voluntary action and its outcome (“intentional binding”). Here, we report that experienced Buddhist mindfulness meditators rather than non-meditators display a greater illusory shift of the timing of an outcome toward an intentional action. Mindfulness meditation involves awareness of causal connections between different mental states, including intentions. We argue that this supports improvements in metacognition targeted at motor intentions. Changes in metacognitive ability may result in an earlier and less veridical experience of the timing of action outcomes either through increased access to sensorimotor pre-representations of an action outcome or by affording greater precision to action timing judgements. Furthermore, as intentional binding is an implicit measure of the sense of agency; these results also provide evidence that mindfulness meditators experience a stronger sense of agency.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0583-z/fulltext.html

 

 

Control Your Emotions with Mindfulness

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Control Your Emotions with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Feelings are often labelled as positive (happy, confident, joyful, brave, etc) or negative (sad, scared, hurt, angry etc). In mindfulness practice, feelings are not good or bad; they just are what they are – emotions that might be comfortable or uncomfortable, easy or difficult.” – Living Well

 

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

 

There is a widespread problem in the west that many people don’t seem to like themselves. The self-dislike sometimes means that the individual dislikes every aspect of themselves; but most frequently people only don’t like certain aspects of themselves. Often it is there physical appearance, their school achievement, their career, their social behavior, etc. Making matters worse, they tend to overlook their strengths and discount them, focusing instead in the parts that they find problematic. This self-dislike is characteristic of depression. The antidote to self-dislike is self-compassion. Self-compassion is “treating oneself with kindness and understanding when facing suffering, seeing one’s failures as part of the human condition, and having a balanced awareness of painful thoughts and emotions” – Kristin Neff. Self-compassion has been demonstrated to be associated with better mental health.

 

Mindfulness and self-compassion are highly related and both are associated with better physical and mental health. But, it is not known which or both may be responsible for the benefits. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness and Self-compassion as Unique and Common Predictors of Affect in the General Population.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1477031045654150/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5107192/

López and colleagues examine the relative effectiveness of mindfulness and self-compassion to influence depression and both positive and negative emotions. They recruited a large representative national sample (the Netherlands), aged 20 to 96. They completed scales measuring five aspects of mindfulness, observe, describe, act with awareness, non-judgement and non-reactivity; two aspects of self-compassion, positive self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness) and negative self-compassion (i.e., self-judgment, isolation and over-identification); depression; and positive and negative emotions. They then applied a sophisticated statistical technique, multiple regression analysis, to explore which aspects of mindfulness and self-compassion predicted depression and emotions.

 

They found that the higher the levels of the mindfulness facets of act with awareness and non-judgement and the lower the levels of negative self-compassion, the lower the levels of depression and negative emotions, while the higher the levels the mindfulness facets of describe and non-reactivity and positive self-compassion, the higher the levels of positive emotions. When the combined effects of mindfulness and self-compassion were looked at, they equally predicted depression and negative emotions, but only mindfulness predicted positive emotions.

 

These are interesting results that suggest that mindfulness is associated with lower depression and negative emotions and higher positive emotions, in other words, improved mood and mental health. On the other hand, the results suggest that a harsh negative view of oneself (negative self-compassion) contributes to depression and negative feelings. An inference from these results is that improving mindfulness and self-like may importantly contribute to the mood and mental health of the general population. It remains for future research to determine if actively training mindfulness and self-liking will have these benefits.

 

So, control your emotions with mindfulness.

 

“The skills involved in emotion regulation may be fostered by becoming aware of emotions and by learning how to manage them without pushing them away or getting tangled up in them. Emotions are not static. Therefore, to train in the skills of emotion awareness, identification, and management, it is useful to practice noticing them “on the spot.” Mindfulness is the practice of purposeful attention without judgment. Mindfulness meditation is simply the practice of being aware of present-moment experience without trying to push it away or over-engage. Mindfulness helps train the mind to pay attention and notice, so that action can be taken with greater reflection.” – Learning to Breathe

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

López, A., Sanderman, R., & Schroevers, M. J. (2016). Mindfulness and Self-compassion as Unique and Common Predictors of Affect in the General Population. Mindfulness, 7(6), 1289–1296. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0568-y

 

Abstract

In contrast to the increased research interest in the benefits of mindfulness and self-compassion, relatively few studies have examined their unique and combined effects in predicting affect. This cross-sectional study examined the predictive value of mindfulness and self-compassion for depressive symptoms, negative affect, and positive affect in a large representative sample of community adults (N = 1736). The Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) was used as a measure of mindfulness and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) as a measure of self-compassion. Five FFMQ facets were explored: observe, describe, act with awareness, non-judgment, and non-reactivity. Two SCS facets were explored: its positive items (SCS Pos) and its negative items (SCS Neg). When simultaneously examining all seven facets of mindfulness and self-compassion, three of the five FFMQ facets and SCS Neg significantly predicted both depressive symptoms and negative affect, with SCS Neg and act with awareness being the strongest predictors. These findings suggest that a harsh attitude towards oneself and a lack of attention when acting have the greatest value in predicting the presence of psychological symptoms. With respect to positive affect, four of the five FFMQ facets (except non-judgment) were significant predictors, with no unique predictive value of the two SCS’s facets, suggesting that mindfulness is a more important predictor of positive affect than self-compassion, as measured by the FFMQ and SCS.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5107192/

 

Help Reduce Psychopathology with Severe Skin Conditions with Spirituality

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Help Reduce Psychopathology with Severe Skin Conditions with Spirituality

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Spiritual practices tend to improve coping skills and social support, foster feelings of optimism and hope, promote healthy behavior, reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, and encourage a sense of relaxation. By alleviating stressful feelings and promoting healing ones, spirituality can positively influence immune, cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels), hormonal, and nervous systems.” – University of Maryland Medical Center

 

Spirituality is often confused with being religious and attending services. Even though spiritual people often are religious, spirituality refers to a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. It involves a subjective experience of a sacred dimension. People vary in their depth of spirituality. But It appears to be an almost universal human belief that there is something more to life than just the physical.

 

Even though spirituality refers to something metaphysical, it has consequences in the physical realm. In particular, spirituality has been found to be associated with better psychological and physical health. Spirituality has been shown to improve psychological well-being and mental health, particularly anxiety. Spirituality has been shown to be negatively associated with depression with the higher the level of spirituality the lower the level of depression. In addition, high levels of spirituality are associated with successful drug treatment for depression. This appears to lead to spirituality being negatively associated with suicidality with the higher the level of spirituality the lower the level of suicidality.

 

Spirituality appears to help the individual cope with adversity, with people who are high in spirituality less likely to be distressed following negative events. To some extent this results from the fact that spirituality appears to reduce the negative consequences of stress and thereby improve well-being. Individuals at the end of life with high levels of spirituality have significantly higher levels of well-being and are less likely to be depressed or suicidal. Spirituality has also been shown to be helpful in treatment for alcoholism and generally for substance abuse treatment and  relapse prevention. Spiritual meditation has also been shown to reduce the frequency of migraine headaches.

 

These findings lead to the conclusion that spirituality may help with the psychological responses to disease. In today’s Research News article “Spirituality and mood pathology in severe skin conditions: a prospective observational study.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1476015799089008/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982877/

Unterrainer and colleagues studied the relationship of spirituality to the mental problems surrounding severe skin disease. They recruited patients with severe and potentially life threatening dermatological diseases of systemic sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, and early stages malignant melanoma. They measured spiritual well-being including hope immanent, forgiveness,  experiences of sense and meaning, religious well-being, general religiosity, connectedness, and hope transcendent. In addition, they measured a variety of psychiatric symptoms.

 

They found that hope for a better future, hope transcendent and forgiveness were the spirituality components that were most negatively associated with psychiatric symptoms, with high levels of hope and forgiveness associated with low levels of mental health issues. In general, the existential dimensions of spirituality were better predictors of low psychopathology than the religious dimensions of spirituality.

 

These results are interesting and suggest that spirituality is positively associated with the mental health of patients with severe dermatological diseases. Due to the fact that the study was correlational, it cannot be concluded that spirituality caused better mental health, or that better mental health caused spirituality, or some third factor was responsible for both. But, nevertheless, the findings clearly demonstrate that spirituality and mental health are positively related.

 

How might spirituality promote mental health. Obviously, it provides goals and meaning to life. In addition, virtually all spiritual practices and religious belief systems promote acceptance of one’s strengths and weaknesses, the need to maintain a principled life, and having harmonious relationships with others. All of these consequences of spirituality could contribute to mental health.

 

So, help reduce psychopathology with severe skin conditions with spirituality.

 

“Associations between spirituality and Eastern religious practices and lower blood pressure, lower levels of stress hormones and lower oxidative stress have been found. Moreover, associations between Judeo, Christian, and Islamic religious practices and lower blood pressure, protective effect against cardiovascular disease, increased immune function, lipid levels and protective effect against all-cause mortality were found.” –Iulia Basu-Zharku

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Unterrainer, H.-F., Lukanz, M., Pilch, M., Scharf, S., Glawischnig-Goschnik, M., Wutte, N., … Aberer, E. (2016). Spirituality and mood pathology in severe skin conditions: a prospective observational study. Archives of Dermatological Research, 308, 521–525. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-016-1672-5

 

Abstract

Although the association between spirituality and parameters of psychological health and disease has been investigated extensively, little evidence is available for its potential role in dermatology. In a single-centre observational prospective study, 149 outpatients (107 women) with systemic sclerosis (SSc; n = 44), lupus erythematosus (LE; n = 48), or early stage malignant melanoma (MM; n = 57) were investigated using the multidimensional inventory for religious/spiritual well-being together with the Brief Symptom Inventory for psychiatric symptoms (BSI-18). SSc patients reported the highest amount of Somatization in comparison with LE and MM patients (p < 0.05). Furthermore, in line with the previous research, spiritual dimensions, such as Hope for a better future (p < 0.01) or Hope for a better afterlife (p < 0.01), proved to be especially negatively predictive for the global amount of psychiatric symptom burden in these dermatological patient groups. Our findings suggest that greater attention should be given to spiritual issues, such as encouraging patients, imbuing them with optimism, and offering interventions that address spiritual well-being.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982877/

 

Improve the Physical and Psychological State of Breast Cancer Survivors with Mindfulness

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Improve the Physical and Psychological State of Breast Cancer Survivors with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“A brief mindfulness-based intervention has a positive short-term effect on psychological and behavioral measures as well as proinflammatory signal markers in younger breast cancer survivors,” – Joyce O’Shaughnessy

 

About 12.5% of women in the U.S. develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetimes and every year about 40,000 women die. Indeed, more women in the U.S. die from breast cancer than from any other cancer, besides lung cancer. Breast cancer diagnosis, however, is not a death sentence. It is encouraging that the death rates have been decreasing for decades from improved detection and treatment of breast cancer. Five-year survival rates are now at around 95%.

The improved survival rates mean that more women are now living with cancer. Surviving cancer, however, carries with it a number of problems. “Physical, emotional, and financial hardships often persist for years after diagnosis and treatment. Cancer survivors are also at greater risk for developing second cancers and other health conditions.” (National Cancer Survivors Day). In addition, breast cancer survivors can have to deal with a heightened fear of reoccurrence, and an alteration of their body image.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with cancer recovery and help to alleviate many of the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including stress,  sleep disturbance, and anxiety and depression.. Indeed, yoga practice has been found to improve sleep quality and memory, reduce the side effects from chemotherapy, relieve neuromuscular symptoms, and improve the quality of life in cancer survivors. Also, Tai Chi or Qigong practice has been shown to improve quality of life, reduce fatigue, and lower blood pressure and cortisol levels.

 

Hence various practices that have the common property of improving mindfulness, are able to relieve symptoms in breast cancer survivors. It is possible that they have a common mechanism of action. In today’s Research News article “A Systematic Review of Spiritually Based Interventions and Psychoneuroimmunological Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivorship.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1475016505855604/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5125023/

Hulett and colleagues review the published research literature to explore whether psychoneuroimmunological factors may be the mechanism by which these various practices relieve the residual symptoms after breast cancer survival. They included all studies regardless of the type of mindfulness practice, including mindfulness, meditation, yoga, tai chi or qigong practices, that studied breast cancer survivors and included measures of mental influences on the brain and immune system. By far the most frequently used practice was Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

 

The found that the literature reports that mindfulness practices produce improvements in breast cancer survivors in the psychological symptoms of quality of life, depression, stress, anxiety, fatigue, and mood. In regards to psychoneuroimmunological factors, they found that the literature reports that mindfulness practices produce reductions in breast cancer survivors in cortisol levels, a marker if stress and inflammation, and some studies report preservations of DNA telomeres, a marker of cellular aging. They also found that MBSR was reported to improve inflammatory cytokine activity, improve lymphocyte function, improve or stabilize cortisol levels, and increase or preserve telomere activity.

 

Hence the research literature has found extensive and positive psychological and psychoneuroimmunological effects of mindfulness practices on breast cancer survivors. The association of psychoneuroimmunological effects with the psychological benefits of the practices is striking and suggests that there may be links between the two, but causation cannot be conclusively determined. But, nevertheless, mindfulness practices appear to both improve psychological health and also the body’s ability to withstand stress and reduce inflammation. These are very positive benefits that suggest that mindfulness practices are a safe and effective treatment for breast cancer survivors. It remains for future research to investigate possible causal connections.

 

So, improve the physical and psychological state of breast cancer survivors with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness meditation seems to help breast cancer patients better manage symptoms of fatigue, anxiety and fear of recurrence.” – Kathleen Doheny

 

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 Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Hulett, J. M., & Armer, J. M. (2016). A Systematic Review of Spiritually Based Interventions and Psychoneuroimmunological Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivorship. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 15(4), 405–423. http://doi.org/10.1177/1534735416636222

 

Abstract

Objective: This is a review of spiritually based interventions (eg, mindfulness-based stress reduction) that utilized psychoneuroimmunological (PNI) outcome measures in breast cancer survivors. Specifically, this review sought to examine the evidence regarding relationships between spiritually based interventions, psychosocial-spiritual outcomes, and biomarker outcomes in breast cancer survivors.

Methods: A systematic search of 9 online databases was conducted for articles of original research, peer-reviewed, randomized and nonrandomized control trials from 2005–2015. Data were extracted in order to answer selected questions regarding relationships between psychosocial-spiritual and physiological measures utilized in spiritually based interventions. Implications for future spiritually based interventions in breast cancer survivorship are discussed.

Results: Twenty-two articles were reviewed. Cortisol was the most common PNI biomarker outcome studied. Compared with control groups, intervention groups demonstrated positive mental health outcomes and improved or stable neuroendocrine-immune profiles, although limitations exist. Design methods have improved with regard to increased use of comparison groups compared with previous reviews. There are few spiritually based interventions that specifically measure religious or spiritual constructs. Similarly, there are few existing studies that utilize standardized religious or spiritual measures with PNI outcome measures. Findings suggest that a body of knowledge now exists in support of interventions with mindfulness-breathing-stretching components; furthermore, these interventions appear to offer potential improvement or stabilization of neuroendocrine-immune activity in breast cancer survivors compared to control groups.

Conclusion: From a PNI perspective, future spiritually based interventions should include standardized measures of religiousness and spirituality in order to understand relationships between and among religiousness, spirituality, and neuroendocrine-immune outcomes. Future research should now focus on determining the minimum dose and duration needed to improve or stabilize neuroendocrine-immune function, as well as diverse setting needs, including home-based practice for survivors who are too ill to travel to group sessions or lack economic resources.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5125023/