Can a little loving kindness improve our mental health?

Nottingham: Mindfulness - an ancient Buddhist approach to meditation - is attracting increasing attention in the 21st century as a non-invasive treatment for stress and depression. But can it improve mental wellbeing in young people? View the video to find out more. Using electroencephalography (EEG) – a non-invasive method of recording electrical activity in the brain along the scalp - Dr Ahmed Mohammed, from the School of Psychology at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) is attempting to find out if loving kindness meditation can improve the wellbeing and mental health of young people.

Mindfulness as good as drugs for preventing depression relapse

NHS: "Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy may be as good as pills at stopping people relapsing after recovering from major bouts of depression," The Guardian reports. Researchers wanted to see if a type of therapy known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could be an effective alternative treatment to antidepressants for people with major depression at high risk of relapse. MBCT combines the problem-solving approach of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with mindfulness techniques. These are designed to fix your awareness on the "here and now" instead of having unhelpful thoughts about the past and the future.
In a two-year clinical trial, people already taking antidepressants were assigned to a MBCT programme with a view to reducing or stopping their medication, or were asked to continue antidepressants alone. With support from their GP and therapist, around 70% of the mindfulness group were able to stop taking antidepressants.

How mindfulness can benefit the modern teenager

British Columbia: Today’s teens face a unique set of stressors from social media, parents, schools, and society, says Dr. Dzung Vo. The author of The Mindful Teen: Powerful Skills to Help You Handle Stress One Moment at a Time, says mindfulness can be the key to helping teens cope. Mindfulness is an ancient practice that’s been brought into modern medicine by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He describes mindfulness as paying attention on purpose in the present moment and without judgment. I think that’s a very useful definition. Other definitions of mindfulness are about bringing your heart and mind together, and paying attention with an attitude of curiosity, self-compassion, and kindness. Ultimately, there’s no way to describe mindfulness. It’s more of an experience. It’s like asking: “What does chocolate taste like?” Words don’t really describe it—it’s more important to experience it for yourself.