Meditation - the cure of anxiety

[Idstain]

Hi guys, i am just cross posting a post i made on another forum.

thoughts on mindfulness to cure or reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression?

It seems incredible to me and i have had some great results so far and am not far from full health again. I recommend watching this video by Jon Kabat-Zinn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSU8ftmmhmw just skip to around 42minutes to see the results from some studies on it.

here are 2 graphs from the video showing the respective anxiety and depression over a 20 week period. he goes on to say in the video that these results are the same 3 years on when they checked with the patients. edit: this is actually for patients who have chronic health problems such as CFS alongside their psychiatric issues

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4274816424_55d2f073db_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4274816426_152ecd10e9_o.jpg

I don't really understand the specifics of this graph but i am led to believe that this is essentially a measure of happiness, the mark on the left is that of mathieu ricard a famous buddhist monk, his result is 8 standard deviations from the mean (that's huge incase you don't know your statistics)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4274816428_b65e4d8b74_o.jpg

three very good books on the subject

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn (http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-Illness/dp/0385303122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263495138&sr=8-1)

Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh (http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Every-Step-Mindfulness-Everyday/dp/0553351397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263495274&sr=1-1)

Happiness by Mathieu Ricard (http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Guide-Developing-Lifes-Important/dp/0316167258/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263495361&sr=1-1)

The first one is pretty heavy going so you may want to avoid that one at first, i feel as though everybody regardless of physical or mental health could get great benefit from the other two.

I am reading Happiness by Mathieu Ricard right now, inside the front cover they have a quote from Aaron Beck, the creator of CBT.

"In this highly readable and enlightening volume, Matthieu Ricard offers us the keys to opening up the chambers of the mind where serenity resides. His elegant descriptions show us how the preoccupation with the self leads to the detrimental urges, thoughts and feelings that present barriers to genuine liberation."

I could write alot about this but ill be as brief as i can. Essentially, meditation and mindfulness allow us to seperate ourselves from our thoughts and see them for what they are and it also teaches us to be present in every moment of our lives, to not push away, to not fight, to be at peace with ourselves (this ties in very closely with Claire weekes' face, accept, float and let time pass)

Please look in to this if you want to get rid of your anxiety.

Who ever heard of an anxious or depressed buddhist monk? :)

[mummy4]

thanks for responding to my thread. meditation is def something i would give a go. how do i go about starting????

[Idstain]

No problem :)

There's an excellent video by jon kabat zinn on YouTube which I highly recommend to start with, it's not the one I posted in the original post but a different one. He's at google and I think it's just over an hour long. He spends the first 20 minutes or so talking about what meditation is then takes you through a nice 15 minute guided meditation which you can just do sitting in your chair. (sorry I would post the link but I am writing this on my phone on the pub right now!)

good luck !

[mummy4]

lol ok cheers x

[NoPoet]

Thanks for posting the graphs, they are very interesting. I've never seen the effects of meditation quantified this way before. Normally I'd be skeptical but I agree that meditation is very effective against anxiety. It helps you to regain some of the "balance" you lose when your body is stressed or fearful. I use hypnosis mp3s and hypnotherapy which involve a lot of relaxation which has a similar effect over time.

[Alicat]

Hi there,

I've read 'The Mindful Way Through Depression' and it's great. Mindfulness can really help.

I'm starting a Mindulness group at the CMHT next Monday. I recommend Mindfulness to everyone.

[sammypetter]

Hello
That 5 minutes will be filled with more that the focus of the breath. Your mind will ramble all over the place, so it will focus you mind, give you something other to do that worry.
Meditation is excellent for anxiety, but it may not be the magic wand that you wish it to be, it needs dedication & time.
Yes, if you can, same time everyday.

[Alicat]

Hello
Meditation is excellent for anxiety, but it may not be the magic wand that you wish it to be, it needs dedication & time.
Yes, if you can, same time everyday.

That is true. It won't resolve problems, just helps you cope with them so it might be a good idea to have counselling alongside it.

[KK77]

People that suffer with anxiety should find ways of learning to relax through methods like meditation excellent for their condition but should also bear in mind as someone else pointed out that it takes a lot of patience and perseverance. When you try to "clear" your mind you may find all sorts of nasty thoughts popping up because certain thoughts are a distraction for other unwanted ones. Keeping the mind busy distracts it to a point so you have to be able to cope with staying with these unwanted thoughts and not fighting them. The result of staying with them is that they lose their power over you, and that's why I think meditation is excellent for everyone - anxiety disorders or not.

[Idstain]

^^^ i agree, i have nearly recovered from GAD + panic now but will be meditating every day for the rest of my days i think.

I think there are 2 main aspects to meditation that are invaluable to the anxiety sufferer.

Firstly, you spend more and more time in the present moment and hence, less time in your head worrying about the future or looking back with horror at how long you've been ill. the past has gone!! no need to fear what doesn't exist. Of course you can "know" that the past is no more but still feel attached to it and the suffering, with meditation you go from knowing to feeling and believing it.

Secondly (and probably most importantly with regards to recovery), because you are in the present moment so much more you feel as though you can watch your thoughts without believing you are them. This is kind of difficult to describe but you learn and realise that you are so much more than your thoughts and there is something else beneath that.

Claire weekes talks about first and second fear. First fear being our bodies natural sensitised reaction to something and second fear being what we add ourselves (the what ifs and oh my gods).

Here's an excerpt from "essential help for your nerves"

"However long you have been ill, if you make up your mind to not add second fear, complete recovery is inevitable. How important it is to unmask panic and see those two seperate fears. How important to learn how to recognise second fear and send it packing. recognizing second fear and coping with it is the way to desensitisation, the way to recovery. i assure you of this"

With meditation you can become in complete control of your second fears and not let them control you :)