Mindfulness Meditation, anxiety and Depression

Posted on by

A Treatment For Depression – As Effective As Talking To A Therapist?

 |  By
MEDITATION
 Even though a growing body of research has demonstrated the legitimate mental and physical health benefits of meditation, some people still consider mindfulness to be merely a New Age fad rather than a serious treatment option.

Now, a new Swedish study offers more compelling evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based practices in treating anxiety and depression.

Researchers from Lund University found group mindfulness treatment to be as effective as individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating individuals suffering from anxiety, depression and severe stress responses — and it may be more affordable and convenient.

 The research was conducted at 16 health care centers in Southern Sweden. A total of 215 patients with anxiety, depression or severe stress reactions were randomly sorted into either a regular treatment group, in which they underwent individual CBT sessions, or underwent 10-patient group mindfulness treatment sessions. Both programs lasted for eight weeks.

Before and after the treatments, the participants were asked to fill out questionnaires to determine the severity of their anxiety and depression symptoms. Among both groups, self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression decreased. The researchers noted that there was no statistical difference between the CBT and the mindfulness groups.

While a growing body of research has shown mindfulness treatment to be effective in managing symptoms of anxiety and depression, the new Lund research is the first to show mindfulness to be as effective as traditional forms of therapy.

Earlier this year, a review of 47 studies showed that evidence of a positive effect of mindfulness on managing anxiety, depression and pain had been proven across a number of clinical trials.

“Clinicians should be prepared to talk with their patients about the role that a meditation program could have in addressing psychological stress,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in January.

This reduction of symptoms is likely rooted in actual changes in the brain. In 2011, Harvard researchers found that participating in an eight-week mindfulness training program created significant changes in brain areas associated with sense of self, empathy, stress and memory. MRI data revealed that meditation increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, a region associated with learning and memory, and decreased density in the amygdala, a brain region associated with fear, anxiety and stress responses.

The findings were published online last week in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Original article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/mindfulness-depression-an_n_6247572.html?cps=gravity_3405_5015353437465284738

All About Anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or….

Posted on by

 “Wouldn’t it help if I were prepared for what happens to me?”

If you have experienced an extremely threatening event where you felt your life was in danger and you could not exert control to change it, you’ve experienced the “fight or flight” response. This is the body’s automatic reaction and it prepares you for lightening-speed decisions. The chemicals released cause an increase in your respiration rate and blood pressure, and blood is directed into your muscles and limbs for running and fighting. Your pupils dilate, awareness intensifies, sight sharpens as you scan and search the environment for danger.

WhatsGoingOn?Afterward we may revisit the event and wonder, wouldn’t it help if I were prepared for what happens to me? At the moment this thought appears, you may notice that you begin to feel similar body sensations as before. The heart pounds faster, you may begin to shake. This is the cognitive aspect of processing trauma. “What if…. If only…” – You want to be sure it never happens again. So the brain tries to remember and learn from the threatening event… “if only… I’ll never… “ and

“If only my life had background music so I could tell what the heck was going on!”

Think of storing memories as being like putting away groceries. When a person experiences a traumatic event, it’s like the memories were stored by shoving too much stuff into a cabinet. And anytime it gets opened, all the “stuff” explodes as it falls on your head.TooMuch

If not processed properly, your experience can spiral into generalized anxiety and panic attacks, or worse – a syndrome called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With PTSD, ordinary events can serve as reminders of the trauma and trigger flashbacks or intrusive images. A flashback may make the person lose touch with reality and reenact the event for a period of seconds or hours, or very rarely, days. A person having a flashback, which can come in the form of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, usually believes that the traumatic event is happening all over again.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is best treated with a combination of psychotherapy and medications. People with PTSD should seek out a therapist with specific experience and background in treatment post-traumatic stress disorder.

If you have experienced a traumatic event and the “flight or flight” symptoms won’t go away, please consider counseling to help you cope. With a qualified therapist, you can learn new skills to help process, manage and resolve the distressing thoughts and feelings related to the traumatic life events.

Here are 8+ ways to quiet the overactive stress response:[i]

Continue reading →