The Effects of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training on Adolescent Self-Awareness and the Reduction of Anxiety, Depression and Stress.

Murphy, M. (2006). Taming the anxious mind: An 8-week mindfulness meditation group at a university counseling center. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 21, 5-13.

According to the article, meditation can ease depression, anxiety and other psychological stressors, all issues that can negatively impact a child’s academic performance. With that said, since a majority of the students at Robert W. Coleman come from high-stress environments, meditation has done wonders. Therefore, the Mindful Meditation Room creates an environment where students are able of decompressing while also enhancing their ability to learn.

Mindfulness training teaches the teen with a mood disorder, how to use their own natural ability to consciously bring balance to their emotions. It gives them a choice, by teaching them to pause and process the emotion, and it gives them back sense of control. Evidence supports that mindfulness is an effective tool in treating mood disorder symptoms. Professor Filip Raes conducted one of the first studies to examine mindfulness in a large sample in a school-based setting. The study included 400 students ages 13-20, using a randomized controlled design. The results suggest that mindfulness decreased symptoms in students and possible protects against recurrence of symptoms later (Reas, Griffith, Gucht, & Williams, 2013). A similar study was done by Luis Carlos Delgado Pastor at the University of Granada. The study established that mindfulness training is effective in improving rates of anxiety, depression, complaints about health and emotional regulation (2009). According to Dr. William R Marchand, extensive reviews are showing convincing evidence that mindfulness-based practices combined with conventional interventions are effective in treatment in psychiatric symptoms and states that MBSR and MBCT have "broad-spectrum" effects against depression and anxiety (2012).

Individuals can decrease their stress levels by mindfully doing routine tasks. Boardman notes, “…people who washed dishes mindfully …. upped their feelings of inspiration by 25% and lowered their nervousness levels by 27%.” I think what the author means by “mindfully” is a highly focused state of mind that does not allow for thoughts not relating to the task that we are doing to clutter our mind.

Dickinson, Friary and McCann (2016) state that Kabat-Zinn’s (2011, 1991) Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program is connected to mindfulness. Bishop et al (2004) claim that suggesting Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as a means of treating people’s sufferings has significantly increased the clinical uses of mindfulness.

It is often believed that only adults experience stress and anxiety, however stress is something that does not have an age requirement. Adolescent stress and anxiety are important health issues that often go unnoticed. Early adolescence is defined, as a period between 11 and 14 years of age (Carlozzi, Winterowd, Harrist Thomason, Bratkovich, & Worth, 2010, p. 446). These years are usually marked by rapid changes. For most students, stress can stem from puberty, new demands of school, changing peer relationships, and responsibilities to families. Not to mention, early adolescence is period of development where identities, social skills, and personal values are being established.

Furthermore, multiple studies have shown that individuals who practice Mindfulness have vastly improved brain function and quality of life, even after just a few weeks. I used available resources and my own knowledge of being a teen to create a step by step guide to achieving Mindfulness that would be informational, but not overwhelming or condescending to teens. I also included several other techniques for dealing with various disorders. Not only would my site contain descriptions of these illnesses, it would have ways of coping with them, particularly if involving a professional is not an

The final thing I found information for was the advantages and disadvantages of the specific emotion-focused coping strategies discussed. In doing this, I found a source about meditation on About Health titled “Benefits of Meditation for Stress Management,” which was very helpful in explaining how meditation reduces stress and it’s pros and cons. Unfortunately, I could not find any specific techniques of problem-focused coping strategies even with the further research conducted today, and thus, decided to use the general pros and cons mentioned in previous sources.

Adolescent stress is an important part of their lives and it is important for it to be monitored regularly in order for them to feel the benefit of learning important stress management skills. About 39% of the adolescents undergo depression at one point or another and they seem to handle their problems in a way that is constructive. This stress and depression ranges from mild to severe with the young people often relying on negative or passive behaviors in their attempts to deal effectively with their problems. Stress is usually characterized by frustration, sadness, worry, tension and withdrawal. There are many reasons that lead to stress in adolescents and younger people. Various studies have been conducted to determine the causes of stress among adolescents. The

Coelho et al (2013) provided a detailed outline of the evidence that supports the claim that MBCT is a recently developed class based program designed to prevent the relapse and recurrence of Major Depression. . The evidence from the randomized trials reviewed by the authors, suggests that for patients with 3 or more previous depressive episodes, MBCT has an additive benefit to usual care.

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).

Adolescents face a conundrum of developmental challenges as they navigate through traumatic experiences and make positive use of healthy coping skills. Self-awareness and self-regulation are two important skills

“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” (Baraz, 2014) Introduction The concepts of mindfulness and depression are very closely interconnected. Depression is a condition that is caused by a variety of variables, using a mindfulness approach method can be used to better control a person suffering from depressions emotion toward a situation. The concept of mindfulness is the used to better control a person’s emotions and feelings to a situation by having them preform techniques that will help them deal with the issue; without

Anxiety and depression (internalizing problems) have increasingly become an issue in youths, with nearly 20% of youths across the world suffering from some form of psychiatric disorder (Eisenberg & Neighbors, 2007). In addition to being widespread, these mental health problems have proven strongly debilitating and impairing for youth quality of life (Costello, Mustillo, Erkanli, Keeler, & Angold, 2003) and positively associated with poor academic achievement and increased suicide risk (Gould, et al., 1998). Moreover, the impacts of these issues on youth mental health carry over into adulthood (Weissman, et al., 1999) and adults who experienced psychiatric problems as children display poorer lifelong functioning if the onset of the problem was earlier in life (Copeland, 2015). As such, it is imperative that researchers develop a better understanding of the risk factors associated with the development of internalizing problems in youth populations.

Teen stress is a big issue in today's society. Recent studies have shown that teens may develop more stress then adults. Few adults can remember the truth about adolescence. "Their minds "censor" their memories, and have them believe that being a teenager was was one big party, free of cares and responsibilities"( ). There aren't that many adults around who realize what adolescence was really like. The anguish, the fear, the anxiety, the stress. People don't remember those problems because they want to forget them. Stress is a significant problem for teens. There are many factors that lead into teen stress, such as school, drugs, peer pressure and