Mindfulness: Treatment for Mood Disorder in Teens

The prolific success rates of mindfulness-based therapeutic techniques among the body of evidence only highlights how we can further incorporate mindfulness into not only psychological treatments, but also into our daily lives as preventative measures against unnecessary distress. The cognitive perceptual and interpretive control afforded via mindfulness practices seems to influence the appraisal of the situation at hand affects our reaction and response to it. The advantageous ability to objectively reflect on an issue before responding is not confined only to the realm of treating psychological symptoms.

According to Barlow (2008), major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common depressive disorder and affects million of Americans each year. The symptoms experienced by individuals with MDD can be debilitating. The Global Burden of Disease Study, initiated by the World Health Organization, estimated depression to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world (Barlow, 2008). To further examine this, The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) found that each year roughly 13 million

For this research we will explore the power of meditation relaxation and the effects it has on treating college students suffering from depression. Two groups will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: meditation-relaxation technique training or pseudo-relaxation training. Our independent variable is one of the two conditions and our dependent variable will be scores received from the Beck Depression Inventory. Based on past research with similar studies, it is hypothesized that the group receiving meditation-relaxation technique training will report lower rates of depression than the group receiving

Mindfulness therapy falls under the umbrella of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is an evidenced based treatment that was derived as a way to treat individuals who are at risk for emotional dysregulation on a more long-term basis (Craighead, 2016). Mindfulness includes education about the client’s illness, meditation techniques and drawing a connection between specific thoughts and feelings. This is all done in an effort to teach individuals to more routinely notice their thoughts and avoid rumination and negative thinking patterns that can lead to feelings of negative self-worth, guilt and excessive self-criticism (Williams & Kuyken, 2012). According to research from six randomized controlled trials with a total of 593 participants Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral therapy was shown to reduce relapses of depression in 44% (Williams & Kuyken, 2012).

The program calculated that 52 nursing students were needed for this study. The researchers created flyers with detailed information about the MBSR study. The inclusion criteria were posted on the nursing schools website and community board, which required the participants having no regular meditation and yoga practice within the past 6 months, no current psychiatric symptoms, and no physical contraindications to exercise. Then, students were randomly assigned to either the MBSR group or the waitlist control group. Students completed a demographic form and questionnaire on depression, anxiety, stress and mindfulness for the reference (Song & Lindquist, 2015).

The current study focuses on Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT), including mindfulness and family therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was not showing sufficient results in dealing with adolescents that have serious behavioral and comorbid issues. The research question here is, would MDT be effective with adolescents also experiencing issues with conduct. One obvious independent variable from the study were the amount of aggressive actions that the teenagers took. It was operationalized with different qualitative measures, including a more subjective recording from the staff of the facility. The literature review was very descriptive and really gave a background of MDT. Different theories mentioned to support MDT were Beck’s cognitive theory, which supports that the thoughts caused by depression affect the depression, Ellis’s rational emotive behavior theory, which believes humans are center to their own universe and have their own choices, and Piaget’s cognitive development theory and schemata.

While mindfulness practice is relatively new in education, a magnitude of research has overwhelming demonstrated how psychological wellbeing impacts educational outcomes. Specifically, research has revealed that negative environments and feelings can lead to decreases in academic performance and achievement (Singh et al., 2007). Examining mindfulness practice is important because it relies on principles to improve emotional regulation, attention awareness, and learning focus. It is practical to assume that enhancement in these areas will lead to a variety of classroom benefits. In addition to educational benefits, the student and teacher will obtain personal growth as their psychological capacity will be increased. Ultimately, the program is being proposed for schools as it promotes emotional and social skill development, which will subsequently enhance teaching and learning outcomes. The significance of the program is based on evidence that indicates children and youth

Many studies have found that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) meditations enhance well-being by building a mindful awareness. Shaprio et al. (2007), found that MBSR programs taught over the course of a semester help decrease rumination, perceived stress, negative affect, and state and trait anxiety. It was also found to help increase positive affect and self-compassion. These findings are based off the concept that self-awareness (achieved through MBSR) is the basis of self-care, as it is an unbiased observation of inner behaviors and

In a study comparing the effects of relapse in depressed patients currently in remission, one hundred and sixty patients aged 18-65 years old meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder were given antidepressant pharmacotherapy first, and then MBCT after discontinuing their drug treatment. If they continued drug treatment according to the original design, a mindfulness based intervention was not substituted. The findings concluded that MBCT was just as effective in the survival of their remission as the original drug intervention was even after the drug was abruptly

MBCT is commonly used in studies as a comparison tool against other treatments to determine which is more effective for that situation. MBCT has been commonly combined or compared with other psychotherapies such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The different psychotherapies each incorporate mindfulness in a different manner. Each practice places emphasis in different areas such as the validation of an individual’s skills used in DBT, or the idea of self-regulation used in MBSR. Combining the primary components of MBSR and cognitive therapy prompted the development of MBCT (Beckerman & Corbett, 2009). MBCT is an eight-week group-training program that

Although, since the population is adolescents, the therapist should take into consideration and assess for, as one would in other treatment modalities, abuse, neglect, self-harm, and suicide. It is important for the therapist to be attentive during the mandala art discussions and processing to make sure the adolescent does not present with any sort for abuse, neglect, self-harm, and suicide, and if they do so, then to assess further and take appropriate actions. Furthermore, providing the adolescent with coping skills would be beneficial when they do encounter any sort of high risk situation. When applying mindfulness and mandala art to adolescents who are under 18, it is important to get the clients parental consent, thus if the client’s caregiver(s) do not consent to this sort of treatment, then it may be difficult for the adolescent to receive all the benefits of mindfulness based interventions. Lastly, maintaining confidentiality with an adolescent client is a crucial aspect for the therapist. Breaking confidentiality would not be the best option for a therapist because they do not want to break the trust of the adolescent, unless the client is a danger to themselves or others in which case a caregiver must intervene. The therapist must be clear to the client when they will or will not expose their privacy to their

The last intervention, we will use is meditation. There are many different forms of meditation such as yoga, tai-chi, walking and Autogenic training. Their cognitive development will also improve with the work of meditation. Adolescents go through a lot of stress and stress can hurt their health outcomes. With meditation as something we do in our sessions and possibly at home their stress could be reduced. The staff will communicate with the parents about stress at home and how that can have a negative impact on their child who is trying to get better. The young adult’s life and environment need to have very little stress so they may improve their health. With an intervention like meditation, they will be able to relax and calm down if anything

This essay is about the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in the treatment of depression. The purpose of this essay is to address the question, how mindfulness works to improve mental health when used as part of psychological treatment? Firstly, a brief overview is given about what depression is and what the symptoms are, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). Secondly, It will discuss mindfulness, as it is defined in mental health treatments. The main body of this essay will cover a description of what MBTC is, where it comes from, how it works, and how this treatment is activated in mindfulness based therapies. The final section will review three studies that have used MBCT in the treatment of depression.

Terms discussed in paper: CBT: Cognitive-behavioural therapy; HEP: Health enhancement program; TAU: Treatment as usual; TRD: Treatment-resistant depression; Mediators: Measurable changes during a treatment; MBCT: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy;

In this paper, I will describe my initial thoughts about the practice of mindfulness and my development regarding practicing it. Furthermore, I will explore the idea of being a mindful therapist and how I am hoping to apply this with patients in the future.