Meditation Replacement For Patients With Depression Essay

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

This paper is about my experience with mindfulness based meditation and scientific inquiry of these experiences. Mindfulness based meditation is describes as technique used to cultivate nonreactive, non-judgmental and stable awareness of the present moment (Garland and Gaylord, 2009). The end goal is to sustain this meta-cognitive state for a long period of time. I practiced non-denominational form of mindfulness based meditation for the first time in my psychology class, which was devoted towards intellectual and experiential examination of meditation. The practice was conducted in a group it was instructed by our own professor and it begun at the end of class. There was one sessions per week and each session was structured meaning it was

Cognitive behavioural therapy, an empirically validated treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (Robinson, Berman, & Neimeyer, 1990) has featured in over 78 research studies, and is the treatment of choice when treating depression by many clinicians. A meta analaysis completed by Dobson (1989), reviewed 28 studies featuring cognitive therapy and depression, and found that cognitive therapy was a more effective treatment modality than behaviour therapy, wait list control, medication, and other therapies. A further meta-analysis conducted by Gloaguen et al., (1998) found that Cognitive behavioural therapy was equal to behaviour therapy, and more effective than drug treatments when treating Major Depressive Disorder.

Research in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has had recent success in effectively making CBT one of the most—if not the most—empirically supported psychotherapy (Spiegler, 2010). The more research in CBT, the more effective and understood the therapies are. Without a thorough understanding of how and why therapies work, it can be difficult to know which therapy would be most effective with a given patient. Additionally, the success of new innovations in third generation psychotherapies, such as acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions, is greatly attributed to research in CBT. Also, there is a growing amount of research of various minimally supported treatments within CBT

Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be as successful as medicine in treating many types of depression and other mental health disorders it can be completed in a relatively short time compared with other talking therapies and because it is highly structured, CBT can be provided in a number of different formats such as through computer programs, groups and self-help books. Some research suggests that CBT may be better than antidepressants at preventing the return of depression. It is thought to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression.

Mindfulness intervention has shown to be effective in alleviating depressive symptoms. In particular, Transcendental Meditation (TM) helps depression patients to relieve stress and depressive symptoms, to improve overall life satisfaction, and to reduce anxiety. Since the underlying mechanism of neurobiological changes brought on by TM intervention to depression patients is yet unknown, this study attempts to investigate how TM helps to relief depressive symptoms by regulating the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis function through the measurement of cortisol response. College participants were randomized into an eight-week program with either a TM intervention or no intervention. During the course of the study, biological function measurement

Mindfulness, a seemingly effective and relatively new approach to assist in treatment or prevention of some mental health disorders; one being depression. Depression affects 121 million people worldwide and is the cause of over 850,000 deaths each

Collect: A review of current studies agree that meditation seems to reduce stress, reduce depression relapse and reduce the distress associated with mental illness, cancer treatment and chronic pain. The current trend is mindfulness meditation, but Zen meditation, vipassana meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy also seem to be beneficial. Meditation increases

Dobbin et al (2009) were the only study that delivered their intervention and follow-up for a short duration (12weeks). Whereas Alladin et al (2007) and Butler et al. (2008) delivered the intervention for a longer period of time. Alladin et al (2007) carried out the completed the method for 6 months, follow up at 12 months and Butler et al. (2008) completed the follow-up at 9 months which was a similar period of time. The duration of intervention and follow compared due the involvement of extra processes and assessment that were carried out to find the final participants. Alladin et al (2007) included various more procedures for CBT and hypnotherapy. They analysed specific symptoms that can cause the reduction of depression in the participants i.e. ego strengthening, positive mood induction and many others. They were also able to use the time to obtain outcome measures at seven different

Meditation as a whole and not just Buddhist meditation is a process that a person uses to quiet the mind and body so one can become away of a higher truth. Meditation has been incorporated in virtually all religions around the world. Of course not all religions use the actual term "meditation", it can be referred to as praying the rosary and so on. Meditation is not always and does not need to be associated with religion. There are plenty of people that meditate daily who have no religious affiliation or even believe in God. Meditation can stand on its own without religion, do to the many health benefits both physically and psychologically. A successful meditation is when the mind becomes quiet without thoughts and the meditator is no longer aware of the body.

Meditation and anti depressant drugs produce similar results because they are both able to alter the state of conciousness of a person. Lynn Blakes was able to treat her depression with meditation. Meditation is a technique that a person is able to concentrate the mind in an concious state while tuning out any other stimulations. Much like meditation, anti depressant drugs are able to duplicate the same effects in a quicker and effortless way. Meditation and anti depressant drugs both give similar results in habdling a persons with depression. I personally choose meditation because it is a technique that can be used often and it is more relaxing on a person with depression. I do not choose anti depressant drugs because it can lead to addiction,

Patients have expressed that they received spiritual benefits too. Some patients say they have a deeper understanding of themselves and that they learned to forgive themselves and others. Others say that bringing their mind, body and spirit into harmony and changing their attitude toward life has helped them stay on the right path. And experiencing a sense of "oneness" and creating a wider and deeper capacity for love has helped many patients through the tough road to recovery.

Meditation is a huge aspect of the Buddhist way of life because meditation allows one to become connected with their inner self. It was believed that Buddha had become awakened through his meditation and realization of what causes his suffering and happiness which led to what is known as the Four Noble Truths. The meditation sessions take place on Saturdays and does not consist of one class where everything is learned, but instead several different classes where things are learned over a period of time. He had said that the first session was just to get to clear your mind and learn the way you think. This is a significant part of the buddhist beliefs because Buddhist adherents believe happiness comes from within, and in order to release all negativity, one must first connect with their innermost thoughts and

<p align=justify>In addition, meditation helps one understand various concepts of Buddhism. For instance, meditating on impermanence, such as decomposing bodies, helps dislodge attachment of worldly pleasures and show how everything is impermanent. The two types, “Vipassana” and “Samatha”, both teach the Buddhist how they should behave and in what state of mind. For example, Samatha teaches the Buddhist to detach from everyday concerns and concentrate on being impermanent. Vipassana teaches that everything is attached and interconnected in the world.

According to Schneider et al., in a 5-year study with patients who have coronary heart disease it was found that there is a 48% reduction in death, heart attack, and strokes with people who used Transcendental Meditation as opposed to the control group (2012). Not only is Transcendental Meditation great for an individual’s health, but it is also great for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, increased school performance and helping treat some mental disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.