Mindfulness

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Mindfulness has become very popular in recent years and we are seeing a large quantity of research published on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based group therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Mindfulness exercises are popular with the general public because they are easy to learn and quick to do, compared with a long wait for other forms of psychotherapy (e.g. CBT).

The published research covers a huge range of health problems and we have featured blogs on topics including anxiety, depression, substance misuse, psychosis, stress, binging and weight loss and the mental health of breast cancer patients.

Overall it seems that the uptake of mindfulness as an intervention and the popularity of this approach amongst service users and health professionals is some way ahead of the evidence. As is often the case, people are not waiting for high quality reliable studies before they start to practice an intervention which is accessible and (seemingly) safe.

Our Mindfulness Blogs

#MindfulnessMonday – Mindfulness proves effective in depression and anxiety, but is not superior to traditional CBT

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Elly O'Brien
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Last week, Kirsten Lawson blogged about mindfulness-based stress reduction as a treatment for breast cancer.  We have featured a number of blogs on mindfulness in the last couple of years, including a piece about the use of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). MBCT is recommended by NICE to prevent relapse in people who have already experienced three [read the full story…]

#MindfulnessMonday – Mindfulness-based stress reduction works for patients with breast cancer

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Patients with breast cancer commonly have lots on their mind (psychological distress)

Within the woodland October is a month of themes. Many of you will be familiar with #Stoptober, which always helps any elves who sneak round the the back of the woodshed, to give up smoking. You may be less aware of our #MindfulnessMonday activities that will be sprinkled across the month; showcasing the potential benefits that [read the full story…]

Mindfulness can impact on quality of life for people with learning disabilities, but more research needed

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Mindfulness is an approach to life based on an ancient Buddhist practice which means paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgemental manner, which aims to increase awareness, clarity and acceptance. As a number of studies have looked at mindfulness-based interventions the authors of this narrative review set out to look at the clinical [read the full story…]

Mindfulness shows promise as treatment for health anxiety

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Fabio Zucchelli
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Most of us care about our health (something we elves encourage) but for up to 5% of people, worrying about health has become a significant problem in itself. Severe health anxiety, or hypochondriasis, is said to exist when someone holds a strong fear of having a serious disease, despite all medical assurances to the contrary. [read the full story…]

Physical activity a promising treatment for depression in children and young people, but more research is needed

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Elly O'Brien
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Depression is one of the most common mental health problems, with around 1 in 5 people in the UK suffering from depression during their lifetime (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2012) including an estimated 4% of children (NHS Choices, 2012).  Treatments for depression are different in children and young people, for example some antidepressant medications used [read the full story…]

Should we be offering mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to all patients with residual depressive symptoms?

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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group training approach that aims to prevent relapse and recurrence of depression. It combines mindfulness techniques with cognitive therapy and research shows that it is effective at reducing depressive symptoms as well as preventing relapse. The NICE depression guideline recommends that MBCT is offered to people who have experienced [read the full story…]

ACT training reduces staff stress but further research needed

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT – pronounced as the word rather than the initials) is based on the notion that it is important to accept what is out of your personal control but commit to action to improve and enrich your life. ACT is an approach which sets out to teach psychological skills to deal [read the full story…]

Mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes help reduce anxiety, depression and stress

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Mindfulness has become a popular self-management technique to relieve stress and cope with busy day-to-day lifestyles. This review defines mindfulness as the ability to “non-judgementally observe sensations, thoughts, emotions and the environment, while encouraging openness, curiosity and acceptance”. It looks specifically at a technique called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes, which is a training programme [read the full story…]