DANA organised a special lecture by Ms Mousumi Singh from Australia on
“Investigation into the Relationship between Mindfulness and Problem-solving Training in Adults with Major Mental Illness”.
Excerpts:
•Mindfulness is conceptualized as involving two key components: “(1) intentional regulation of attention to and awareness of the present moment, and (2) nonjudgmental acceptance of the ongoing flow of sensations, thoughts, and/or emotional states”
•Mindfulness-based intervention strategies include Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that incorporates the practise of a variety of mindfulness skills to address stress and coping; and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
•35 years of study- mindfulness-based interventions may lead to improvements in a range of conditions such as anxiety, depression, pain, stress, coping styles, sleep quality, and quality of life.
Meta-analytic study reviewed fourteen studies on Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for psychiatric disorders and found a reduction of residual depressive symptoms, a reduction of residual anxiety symptoms , a reduction of inter-episodic depression and anxiety symptoms, and prevention of major depressive relapses for people with Major Depression (MD), Bipolar Disorder, Depressive episodes with or without history of suicidal ideations, non-remitted phobic and Generalised Anxiety Disorder patients, patients with social phobia and recurrent MD with residual sleep complaints.
•Singh et al. concluded that mindfulness techniques assisted patients to acknowledge and deal with emotionally arousing situations appropriately. Their study recorded less incidences of verbal aggression and no evidence of physical aggression on follow-up after four years, in patients with serious, chronic mental illness; this assisted in community placement of these individuals. Studies have shown that mindful practice produces changes in brain function that alters the course of mental illness. Mindfulness skills assist patients to deal with their psychological distress that in-turn help improve their quality of life.
