No Rest for the Afflicted: Mindfulness Meditation Minimizes Misery
By Martha Michael
Scientists have not taken a nap in the area of research in the calming and otherwise beneficial results of mindfulness meditation. In fact, analysis at the university level seems to be as active as ever.
UCLA Researchers Greg Flaxman and Lisa Flook, Ph.D. look at a number of mindfulness studies, which they report in an online summary.
Studies that monitor the brain during mindfulness meditation exercises, they say, have looked at the effect on the brain, on relationships and on the overall health of participants.
Physical Changes in the Brain
Scientists are interested in discovering whether or not physical changes occur in the brain due to mindfulness practices.
“Current literature points (toward) the potential for mindfulness to affect the structure and neural patterns present in the brain,” the UCLA researchers report. “Scientists have seen these results last not only during mindfulness practice, but also during the daily life of practitioners.”
They have seen that long-term practitioners of meditation have thicker cortical regions, which are tied to attention and sensory processing. This process provides an anti-aging effect, as thinning of the cortical regions occurs in older patients.
They also cite a study comparing emotions by looking at neural function in “expert meditators” vs. less experienced meditators. Subjects participated in “compassion meditations,” and scientists monitored activity in the emotion regulation centers of the brain. Expert meditators showed a higher empathic ability, evidenced by activation in the areas of the brain that detect emotional cues.
Another study looked at how an eight-week mindfulness meditation training course would affect the immune system. They saw evidence of increased antibody production in a study of Chinese undergraduates who had five days of meditation training for 20 minutes a day. When compared to a group who received relaxation training, the students showed:
- A decrease in anger
- Lower levels of depression
- Reduced anxiety
- Better stress regulation
Relationships
There are interpersonal benefits to mindfulness meditation as well, say the researchers. A study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed an improved relationship among couples who practice mindfulness meditation. Through self-reporting, they saw a higher level of relationship satisfaction, closeness and acceptance.
Mindfulness training also shows an improvement in the relationship between parents and children with developmental disabilities. Not only did they report more satisfaction, they had increased interactions with their children, and reported a lower level of stress.
Clinical Studies
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR, was a therapy created by Jon Kabat-Zinn to help individuals who had chronic pain or stress-related disorders. Patients normally go through 8-10 weeks of training totaling at least 45 minutes per day.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, or MBCT, is a practice where patients learn to acknowledge and accept their feelings. Data from participants showed 37 percent experienced a relapse in depression after eight weeks of MBCT. Others who did not take part in the training showed a 66 percent relapse.
It’s ironic that spending time in a virtual sleep state is what needs to get some daylight in the mental health community. For the sake of those suffering from depression and anxiety, it’s nice to see scientists waking up to the concept.