What helps with anxiety?
Anxiety disorders represent the most common mental disorders experienced by Americans. These can range from PTSD to common phobias, and they wreak havoc in a person’s day-to-day life.
A team of researchers led by David Creswell, PhD at Carnegie Mellon University recently wanted to find out what impact mindfulness practice could have on the anxious brain.
To design their study, Creswell and his team recruited participants from a population that’s under a lot of stress – job seekers.
Now we know that when stress goes untreated, it can become chronic and contribute to anxiety and depression.
Not only that, but high levels of stress hormones released into the body also increase the risk of serious health concerns including a weakened immune system, digestive problems, and heart disease, just to name a few.
Creswell randomized 35 job-seeking adults into either a 3-day intensive mindfulness retreat or 3-day relaxation
program that did not include mindfulness training.
All of the participants received a 5-minute resting brain scan both before and after their program. In addition, researchers took blood samples from each of the participants at the beginning of the study and again at a 4-month follow-up.
Creswell and his team were looking specifically at brain network connectivity patterns. They wanted to know if mindfulness could change the resting-state functional connectivity of brain networks that are associated with mind-wandering and executive control.
Creswell and his team hypothesized that changes in these networks could improve emotion regulation, stress resilience and stress-related health outcomes.
The team also wanted to see what impact mindfulness training could have on a particular inflammatory health
biomarker known as Interleukin-6 (IL-6). This biomarker is known to be elevated in high-stress populations and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and even death.
So what did they find?
Brain scans of the participants who received the mindfulness training intervention showed increased connectivity in the resting default mode network in areas of the brain associated with attention and executive control.
The researchers did not see similar results in the scans of participants who received only the relaxation training.
In addition, the participants who received training in mindfulness showed reduced IL-6 levels at the 4-month follow-up.
Creswell and his team believe that these changes in brain structure and activity following mindfulness meditation could open the door to helping patients improve executive function, stress resilience, and improved physical health.
Now we do need to be cautious in interpreting these results too broadly. This study was conducted with a small sample of participants, all of whom were experiencing a very specific type of stress.
But it is encouraging to read studies like this that open a window into brain changes associated with mindfulness meditation.
The complete study was published online by Biological Psychiatry, January, 2016.
Next week, I’ll be sharing another cool study that looks at mindfulness and brain change in patients who also had anxiety.
Now I’d like to hear from you. How have you applied mindfulness practices to help patients reduce anxiety and stress? Please leave a comment below.
Very nice article, just what I was looking for.
Mindfulness meditation has changed my life and my practice. Anne S., croton on Hudson, NY
Hi,
I think MBSR builds a new neural baseline after 8 weeks of practice, it was t easy at first especially for an anxious mind as mine. However, I’ve noticed I’m much calmer in stressful situations and has become a roadmap for when my thoughts go into overdrive.
Mindfulness intervention for first year doctors: a randomised controlled trial. Published in medical education journal
Ongoing provision of mindfulness training program for first year doctors in a tertiary teaching hospital
Your style is really unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from.
Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just bookmark this blog.
Mindfulness, EFT Tapping, Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Kong and Active Meditation -using “Violet Flame” or Light flowing up and down your body – helps to manage PTSD, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, crises episodes and reduce flashbacks. These practices are about one taking responsibility for how one feels, and what one chooses to focus on. The emotions may not “go away” forever. The surges of peaks and lows of emotions are probably a life-long process if trauma is severe. Instead, it is about one learning to “manage” the episodes of anxiety, depression or terrors. They DO become less frequent and more manageable with practice.
I experience PTSD from childhood trauma, domestic violence, mother abandonment and sexual abuse. I had episodes of Dissociation and Freezing. Despite it all, I managed to get 5 University degrees over a period of 20 years, culminating with a PhD in Behavioural Sciences and later became an Environmental Educator, Healer and Spiritual Counsellor (non-religious).
I KNOW through my own experience, teaching and observation of people around the world, the benefits of mindfulness and meditation! Indeed I would not be alive if it wasn’t for these practices. I have practiced meditation consistently since 1985 and taught “Active Self-Healing Meditation” for the past 16 years around the world. Mindfulness and Active Meditation opens your heart to Compassion for yourself and others, Forgiveness for the perpetrators and cause of your trauma, centers and grounds you. There is nothing ‘dissociative’ about meditation or mindfulness. Well on the contrary, it is about being PRESENT in the NOW moment rather than a dissociative experience. Instead of just Mantras I work with Love, Light and Sound.
Sometimes, however, when a deep memory or wound is activated, meditation is simply not possible, as focusing is tricky. There is raw emotion and little mind. But at these times, mindfulness is paramount. Focusing on the breath, allows one to shift to the present moment, and be aware of physical discomfort. Mindfulness creates a ‘bridge’ between the panic attack, anxiety or depression and the conscious choice: to shift my vibration from fear to compassion, shift my focus from terror to peacefulness, and get out of that dark place (I call Haedes). This in turn, enables me to focus enough to do a quick ‘EFT Tapping’. When I am less stressed I can then do a Self-Healing Meditation, deprogramming and reprogramming false beliefs and discordant emotions.
I live in Australia. We have some of the BEST therapists & psychologists specialized in PTSD and Trauma in Australia (who recommend alternative therapies as proposed by NICABM). I have monthly sessions with the best of all Dr Michael Grace. He showed me Dr. Bessel Van der Klok’s book: The Body keeps the score. I found you through him. I’m writing a book on the subject of Soul Wounds and my healing journey.
Hi Lilliana,
I really enjoyed reading your comment here and also can very much relate to much of what you share personally. Do you have a website or a mailing list, I’d love to connect more with your work.
Hi Lilliana,
I am also inspired by your comments. I too am on a recovery journey, from C-PTSD and EUPD, and have just completed my OT degree, awaiting the start of my Masters. I am committed to helping others find freedom and empowerment from trauma. This journey often feels pretty lonely, and I often feel met with incredulity, like my sights are set too high. So hearing from you gives me reassurance that my goal is achievable. Thank you!
Valencia
I am going to go for biofeedback to help me with my anxiety, depression and digestive issues. I hope that the therapy the support and others experiences with it can help me too!
Hi, after reading this awesome paragraph i am also cheerful to share my experience here with colleagues.
I am not a clinician, but I have dealt with overwhelming anxiety using 15 mins of meditation in the morning along with 15 mins of journaling, and found it to be VERY helpful. I don’t think I could have gotten through my days without it.
Hi Ruth, I find your information very interesting. I don’t have “clients.” I am a “client” and have been one since 1974. Among other things I had an acute schizophrenic episode, paranoid variety,was high-stressed and worried a lot. After much psychotherapy I have learned a lot about living meaningfully and productively and happily. However in the process I got chronic heart disease, atrial fibrillation and an enlarged heart. However, I am now 74 and the doctors just tell me to watch my weight, take a nap(I am an insomniac) drink lots of water, eat right, walk, do strength training, yoga and meditation. I am living proof that this type of information helps keep one out of the hospital and relatively well. Thanks for keeping me on your list. I enjoy what you have to say.
I still don’t seem to get it. I’ve been trying to learn and practice this for a while now but it just doesn’t seem to make much sense when the present moment feels so uncomfortable. I’m willing and open to keep at it though and really appreciate your help with it. Unfortunately I missed all the broadcasts of Tara which I know would have helped. I know this technique will help my clients but I have to master it first. Thank you for all the great information you send our way.
Dee you might want to consider having a mindfulness teacher or coach guide you. Maybe an MBSR class near you? Also, I am a member of a mind/ body oriented practice and get referrals from therapists who think their clients could benefit from a mindfulness practice but want to spend their time with clients in their area of expertise.
There’s another book regarding Mindfulness and Trauma – it’s about how sometimes being ‘here and now’ can trigger discomfort, panic or indifference so can’t always be approached in a typical way – it’s by one of the doctors on this site – Might be a companion book to The Body Keeps the Score. (I’ve already gotten myself in bed, but an Amazon/Google search should do it!) I think its an important read for practitioners as well as patients, before either assumes it’s universally applicable – theres other ways to approach such practices though!
I agree, Dara F. Mindfulness practice can bring up unresolved trauma and grief. As a Roman Catholic, and 34 year practitioner of daily meditation/contemplation, I write out my concerns to God, enter my “interior room” (Matthew 6:6), and listen for God’s response. Never fails to console and inspire me.
Has. Helped but not there yet. Thanks for your article!
I have tried mindfulness when I am experiencing stress and I believe it works really well. When combined with hypnosis, for example if one is experiencing pain, the outcome is even better.
It’s gratifying and not surprising that mindfulness meditation can demonstrate its physiological effectiveness in a controlled study. The positive outcomes of mindfulness are evident on a regular basis in my professional (and personal) practice. And I have seen my clients be surprisingly open to it. Why was I surprised? I think it may be that since my caseload is largely addiction disorders, my expectation was that my clients might lack the attention or focus to meditate, and/or that their social/family backgrounds did not orient them to such practices. As it turns out, every single one of my clients with whom I enter into this practice in session are willing participants. I think their natural instinct tells them that to relax the mind and body, and thereby alter the brain, is vital to their recovery, and that natural methods are better than chemical inducements. Thanks for the article.
Nice to see studies that show actual brain changes. And that these changes in the brain structure and activity can improve emotional regulation, stress resilience and stress-related health outcomes.
I use Mindfulness both in groups and in individual therapy with my clients. It is a simple and powerful tool and I always enjoy seeing studies that back up the process-
Thank you!
when I feel my anxiety coming on it is very important I try and control it mindfully, I have suffered for 20 years , but because it has been coming up more lately I am able to deal with it..
Margaret, you might want to expand your practice to a daily one. This might reduce the need to control your anxiety. Mindfulness is more about letting go and allowing things to be as they are. In the long run it might reduce your anxious episodes. Maybe start with an MBSR class? It might be a good way to build on your current success. Good luck!
Noticing my emotion. Finding any truth in it- if yes, what are my options for a solution. If no- call it out as a lie and kick it to the curb! Prayer is vital. Positive messages (scripture, notes from friends, my own journal, articles, listening to podcasts, etc), going for a run positively affirmming myself while dopamine & serotonin are flowing and my endorphin level is high. I do this for myself & also coach my clients on doing similar practices. Works well!
I enjoyed this article. Very insightful & beneficial.
Anxiety may just be fear of an uncertain future
At the moment, massage and swimming are working for me, as well as the support of my partner .
I’m in the process of learning about mindfulness and am hoping it will be a solution for my anxiety. I haven’t totally wrapped myself around what it truly is but I am going to take a class to help me with the practice. I would like to be able to help others with the incredible life robbing experience that anxiety can be but feel I can only teach if I have mastered it in my own life.
This is interesting but certainly not new. Dr. Richard Davidson (University of Wisconsin-Madison) did a study years ago on this same topic with middle managers with high stress jobs. Results were even more dramatic showing immune system (measured with blood tests) raised in the group practicing Mindfulness Meditation besides other changes. He has worked with His Holiness the Dali Lama for over a decade on this topic. Google his name and you’ll find lots of Richie Davidson – he’s amazing.
Perhaps all meditation is mindfulness meditation, watching and addressing disquiet from different angles. I recommend Osho’s *Meditation: The First and the Last Freedom*, or *The Orange Book* for 103 (or so) different angles.
In my 36-year psychotherapy practice that focused primarily on treating stress, the clients who developed mindfulness practices did far better than those who didn’t. Over the decades, I’ve gotten better at enticing folks. Companion critters are the best mindfulness masters.
When we authentically share the present moment with horses, cats, dogs, goats or chickens, and probably all animals, their whole beings relax and open. The shift can be dramatic. They also physically release their stress. This is great modeling and reinforcement for the human.
In my experience, horses are exquisite at this. Maybe because of their size, neuro-anatomy or the fact that horses and humans share stem parents 56-million years ago. It’s difficult and potentially dangerous to be anything but mindful in relationship with a horse. Smaller house and barn yard buddies are easier to tune out. That can be mitigated with quality support.
It seems that mindfulness may be the default neurological setting. Neuro-plasticity and epigenetics may explain how off course we humans have gotten. The critters, through their responces to us, are great reinforcers of our sharing this mindset, which appears to return us all to homeostasis. Shifting one’s mindset requires practice. Companion and service criitters are often with their humans 24/7. I’ve come to think of my job as teaching people to take directions from their critter allies.
Good to see the researh to share with clients.
Dear Ruth,
Thank you for all your e-mails with information about mindfulness. They are most helpful in treatment of others as well as in applying the knowledge to my own life. Reading through responses today I sensed a misunderstanding from the forum. It is impossible to introduce and teach mindfulness to an ego part of a person. Ego will cling to trauma experiences, to feelings and to sensations brought on by trauma. There is an ancient saying: “what you pay attention to, grows”. Therefore any therapy paying attention to symptoms of the trauma only, will not succeed. Learn first and consult “Your true Self” should be a paramount before introducing mindfulness, or any therapeutic technique. I still remember the grate relieve and joy when my teacher told me: ” You are not your body, you are not your thoughts, and you are not your feelings. Your true Self is perfect, complete, and full of love.” Once you or a client truly learn this concept the therapy, almost any, will progress.
So glad to have this Research Article to share with my practice! Looking forward to more!
Russell Kennedy, M.D.
All anxiety is separation anxiety. I’d like to repeat that all anxiety is separation anxiety. Anxiety is either separation from yourself or separation from others. The treatment for all anxiety is connection. This can be particularly tricky as people with anxiety were not exposed to trust the forms of connection and love shown to them by caregivers when they were children. The reason for this, is likely that their parents also did not receive trustworthy connection and love from their own parents. This creates a type of crossed wiring where love and connection cannot be “trusted”in the young developing child. As they grow these wounded young adults tend to go and find other young adults who also have the same misrust of connection. As an example, a rescuer archetype feels elated when he finds a victim archetype. The rescuer gets a charge for rescuing and the victim feels a charge for being in care of or rescued. These two adults get married and have children and start the cycle all over again. All suffer from (separation) anxiety as they are all separated from themselves internally and from others externally. Their reptilian brains sense the connection is unsafe, but there mammalian brain’s drive for connection pushes them together. This conflict creates anxiety has true connection has never been felt by any of them. Mindfulness practices, I believe, help people Connect to their true selves and allow them to see, I often for the first time, what true connection really is. I believe mindfulness practises do help anxiety, but the true cause is separation or perceived separation in the people who suffer from it. Emphasis on healthy connection and love along with mindfulness practices, I believe has the greatest chance of success in treating anxiety with intra and interpersonal connection, as all anxiety is truly separation anxiety.
(The print as I write this on my iPhone is very small so please forgive grammar/typos)
Hi Russell Kennedy, M.D., these outdated Jungian archetypes are no longer considered useful in psychotherapy. Philosophically intriguing, maybe, but not effective in assisting real change in real people.
Having experienced my parents go through this, myself and my siblings go through this and my children and their children go through this with varying degrees Russell, I tend to agree. Connection and Love of self and others is paramount to healing. Most importantly connection with self. I have found practicing going within, as difficult as it may be to begin with to quieten the mind, has and continues to be a huge help. A wholistic approach with diet, meditation and excercise is very important for me to keep on top of my stress levels. With a clear mind and a healthy body, one can make clearer chooses. Giving and receiving Love and support is also essential to feeling good inside. What bothers me is the amount of teenagers prescribed drugs For anxiety and depression, often leads to self medication and addiction. There is a need for melds in certain individuals who cannot get the support and be mindful of their mental and physical health but mindful education in schools should be compulsory and considered as important if not more so than Maths, English and Science. That’s my two cents worth. From someone who knows what anxiety and panic attacks feels like.
I agree with Dr. Kennedy completely. I have lived what he describes and it has taken a toll on me but even more so, it was even harder on my late parents. What is especially unfortunate IMO is the anxiety my parents faced stemmed largely from the way the larger community expressed religious differences.
I totally agree on the trust issues. In my own life, being spat upon and called a “nigger lover” as a young teenager took me decades to get over as regards trust. Now that I am in my late 60’s and have lived in 3 different communities, I find regional differences remarkable. Usually in my experience, in conflicted communities, people turn to a church or temple or mosque for support and trust. But also in my experience, congregations insist on homogenous thought and children from mixed religion families are not well received.
Thank you. I agree!
Please differentiate between mindfulness training and relaxation training.
Marcella,
(Just my humble viewpoint ;-)).
Relaxation therapy is maybe 40-50 years old, while Samatha/Vipassana meditation techniques are 2000-3000 years old. From another perspective, “Mindfulness” has a big industry behind it, tons of research being published, hundreds of thousands of experts everywhere, popular media coverage, celebrities, scientists, spokespeople, and maybe even t-shirts and baseball caps with logos on them.
In term of technique, Relaxation Therapy is quite simple and finite, while Samatha and Vipassana have myriad layers of incredibly nuanced practice for the more experienced.
You can relax with Relaxation Therapy, but you can relax and grow with Vipassana.
I returned a week ago from India with pronounced jet lag and an unexpected level of retrospective social anxiety associated with the trip. The insomnia, the rehashing and general distress only abated when I decided a couple of days ago to use this unproductive time as a quasi retreat, meditating in the Vipassana tradition each morning, listening to a variety of meditation related talks when driving or performing other tasks.
Yesterday the anxiety faded away, the social interactions when reconsidered seemed normal enough, and last night I slept a full eight hours. Today, I am certain, will be productive, focused, perhaps even joyous.
Of course, this may have been, to some extent, a function of time…or the insomnia and anxiety could have persisted, or even gotten worse, each ensuring the other as I got more sleep deprived and more anxious.
Yes I believe this and have experienced it. Thanks for sharing
Fascinating comments. Here is a link to the article: — biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223%2816%2900079-2/fulltext
I have battled depression and anxiety since childhood. Unstable home and probably trauma incurred there. Have taken MBSR twice, and it has definitely reduced my depression to almost nill. However, the anxiety remains a challenge. I would welcome learning and doing whatever your path might afford. Surely there is hope.
I am touched by this thread and Clemmy’s experience and deep frustration. Nearly all (all?) of the responses offered (that I saw) disregarded the body. Asking someone with deep trauma to sit with his/her thoughts – even for a minute – is likely too much. I hear a body crying for help too. There is a lot of offer in yoga with a practitioner trained in working with trauma (not just any yoga class!!) I do therapeutic yoga (1-1 and small groups), a field that is slowly growing. Also Richard Miller has years of partnering and working with Walter Reed VA and vets and has trained teachers as well – a program called iRest. He recently did a great interview with Tami Simon of Sounds True as well. More info on line.
Clemmy I hear your tenacity in seeking help for yourself – a great strength. Likely no one modality or helper will “do it all.” In my experience we need a team of support (body work, movement, psychotherapy, dietary – food hugely impacts the nervous and glandular system for example, mindfullness, to name several) Keep looking! Wishing you well.
Hi Darcy,
I tried tai chi but my concentration and focus was shot. After 6 weeks of doing an hour a day of just 6 movements, I was put on the spot by the teacher to do the 6 flowing movements. I froze. 42 hours of practice and I couldn’t manage one single movement. The teacher was very kind, but I was so stressed that something as basic as this was beyond my capability I did not return.
I used to enjoy dressage. It became clear I had a short term memory issue when I could no longer remember the test long enough to execute it. Any extra stress and now I shut down.
And you are spot on. My body aches. I have gained a lot of central fat and diet and exercise are not shifting it. I will certainly investigate whether there is a trauma yoga teacher in this state.
Thank you for your reply!
Clemmy
I am finding that meditation is helping me a lot. I sit for 15-20 min each morning before I start my day. I also recently joined a meditation group. Yoga also helps me deal with my anxiety. I am also working with an herbalist who has made me tinctures to help me with my anxiety.
Clemmy,
I am convinced (after lots of varied therapies!) that anger can be a perfectly appropriate reaction, and in fact can ‘fuel’ creativity — especially when it is expressed as articulately as you did (you could write a blog!). Your anger doesn’t sound out of control. Also, repressing one’s anger because of cultural ‘sensitivities’ can result in depression. Taking action (whether its writing a letter to the editor or a book, or joining a protest march, or punching a mattress) is self-empowering — and therapeutic! . For me, my quest in trying different therapies was about wanting to change — feelings, behaviour, habits etc. so I’m thankful most of the help I received was from pre-pharmaceutical psychiatrists and humanistic psychologists. Good luck. That kind of help is next to impossible to find these days.
Thank you Pat- and other responders,
I am so pleased to read that you received good help and have made a good recovery. I have had increasing agoraphobia over the 4 years, significantly exacerbated when I lost my job. I no longer have any idea who I am, what I feel or what I want. Life is a pretty bleak existence with emotional numbing.
It was a very big step to write here! However I am touched by the amount of genuine responses I have received. The messages are all very different, however the underlying theme is consistant. “Don’t give up.”
I actually feel heard, understood, supported and validated. I came here to say this wasn’t my experience to date. Now I am reinvigorated to keep trying new areas.
Thank you all.
Hi Clemmy
I don’t usually comment on these but I felt compelled to do so. I too suffer from PTSD and disassociation. It is the most isolating experience. I went through several therapists. I finally found help with a therapist that does Equine Therapy. You don’t have to be a horse person:). I am finally finding some relief from my PTSD. Please don’t give up. I came so close to giving up so many times. Keep looking for help. Healing ourselves is the biggest challenge. It is a minute to minute struggle but I am told we are all stronger than we believe. I had to fight for myself. I always felt damaged and broken. Hoping you find some relief!!
Hi Jane,
Thank you for responding! I am very much a horse person. I have ridden most of my life. I sold my beloved horses because I could not manage my self care let alone their ongoing care. It was heartbreaking to watch the horses leave the property for the last time.
I agree PTSD is isolating. I choose it because it is safe. And I have control. Safety and Control have become paramount.
Thank you for reaching out today. It means the world to me. I believe you will make a wonderful and full recovery. You deserve no less. X
I would like to second what Jane says about the benefits of equine therapy.
I have been using the Mindfulness Meditation series by Jan Kabat Zinn since 2011. It has met with stellar results. Patients who have extreme anxiety are able to change their thought patterns. Those that stick with it and have,made it a part of their daily routine, like brushing ones teeth, have truly found enormous burdens,lifted without traumatic talk therapy.
Hi Clemmy,
Thank you for being so open in this forum. It makes sense that you are angry. And your anger will remind you that you deserve help. I also hear that you have compassion for yourself. No matter what form of help you receive, yor own compassion is ultimately a vital part of healing. I hope you find a therapist with good understanding and training in trauma. You deserve to be with someone who is unafraid of seeing, you, hearing, you, getting you. And if they use “mindfulness” remember that mindfulness is about being here now, not trying to get you to not feel what you are feeling, but to feel it in a compassionate regulated state. TO do that, anyone with severe PTSD like you will need to move very slowly, touching on the pain in manageable amounts with lots of loving support. I deeply hope that you find this.
Jim
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your deep understanding. I am having trouble finding a PTSD specialist. I have had 4 years of therapy, and have been told repeatedly this is “gross over servicing” and that a year was certainly enough.
However, in my ever shrinking world in an attempt to stay safe, I need to either curl up and die- or stand up and reach out. I am no longer perturbed not being rebooked by therapists. I am becoming results driven and proactive again. Yes my progress is snail paced! But it is progress. My quest to become “unstuck” is now all important. Sincere thanks for your kind words and support here!
Clemmy,
Anyone who says you have been in therapy too long has no idea what they are talking about. If the therapy isn’t helping, it is time to find a new therapist, not time to give up.
How many of the participants were coping with income loss? How many had sufficient severance packages with health insurance? How many had savings, a spouse with an income that could support the household? How many were employed at the 4 month mark? Nurture vs. Nature as well as considering all the complex aspects of each of our lives greatly effects our ability to “bounce back”. There are endless considerations to be reviewed about each participant, their history, home life, income and class/status as well as health and personality. Simply saying that those who were mindful of stress and given education and options for relaxation will positively affect their life doesn’t even show the tip of the ice berg!
First grounding into the body with breath, then sensations then perhaps depending on level of experience toggling between breath in foreground and strong thoughts in background but without getting hooked. If narrative sweeps you up then returning to grounding quality of breath. Hands on heart & belly especially when reclining can be helpful. Thank you. DBB
It may sound foolish but for me anxiety is reduced by keeping a deep presence in all I do. When washing dishes just wash dishes. We concoct all our worries. We also have serious matters that seem to have no answer. Still, meaningful life comes with living every moment. This can also get down to aesthetic living and spiritual life. Zen masters have always referred to ‘practice, practice, practice’. Get into…as deeply as possible fine poetry, sketching, or whatever challenges your mind. ‘Ordinary mind’, slow examination of what pleases, and practice practice practice. Thank you. Ben.
Mindfulness is Useless with PTSD and severe anxiety I can not shut my eyes. I can not hear your voice. I can not quieten my mind. I can not speak. You might as well tell the sun not to rise. It simply can’t happen.
I have had 4 years of learning how to self soothe, to breathe, to ground, to see taste hear feel 5 things. I dissociate quicker than I can ground, breathe, or count. It is like applying a bandaid on a mortal gushing wound. It leaves me suicidal at worst and and full of self loathing at best, that every single psychologist suggests mindfulness. How can I eat a sultana to the point of “mindful orgasm” when I am emotionally dying here in front of you- open your eyes and see! Open your ears and hear! Open your heart and feel!
I have been told to let my troubles “float downstream.” Are you serious? Please. Please. Help me now. Mindfulness might be fine for minor stress. “My cat died.” “I was in fender bender.” “My friend doesn’t like me” .
But please realise how useless and dangerous this advice is for major trauma. We need real life lines stat. Real help, right now. Be with us. Hear us. See us. Validate us. Feel us. Do not fob us off with mindfulness. Walk a mile in our shoes. It is simple not the overarching panacea it is expounded to be for severe cases. In fact it makes us walk away alienated and disillusioned that this is as good as it gets in psych help. It isn’t expanded awareness when the therapist is so rapt and blinded in their own professional myopia they simply can’t see you dying right there.
H, Clemmy – Pehaps neurofeedback might help you. Or Emotional Freedom Technques.
I agree with Julie. Emotional Freedom Techniques with a qualified practitioner is something to consider. Nicholas Ortner wrote The Tapping Solution and also produced a DVD about it. Gary Craig was one of the people who started EFT programs based on practitioners before him. Patricia Carrington also wrote a book on it as well.
Wishing you the best!
I hear you loud and clear…I could have written your comment myself….well expressed and written!
Thanks Deb,
I am committed to reclaiming my life, and becoming productive again. It is a hard and lonely road we walk.
I wish you every success in achieving the full and enduring recovery you richly deserve.
Hello, Clemmy grey. I’m a therapist and can hardly help responding to people’s pain. You’re right, PTSD is awful, and those without it often don’t “get it.” I worked at the VA and saw its effects very clearly.
There are some treatments that seem to help. Hopefully you haven’t tried all of these also, but I’ll mention them just in case. EMDR, PSYCH-K, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and one I just came across called, “BRAIN-SWITCH” (for this one there is an email address: judi@brain-switch.com. The others you should be able to google for practitioners.
You sound very angry, and I hope that doesn’t get in the way of your staying continually open minded to possible resources. Keep turning over the stones till you hit the right one.
Best wishes.
Rob
Hi Rob!
Thank you for your response! I am passionate about finding recovery. I apologise if I came across as angry. Desperation can do that. I was both taken back and humbled that you wrote that I sounded angry. I have no idea what I feel at any point, and haven’t for some years now. For someone who used to pride themselves on high emotional intelligence pre PTSD and acute ability to read and assist people in crisis, losing this skill is a truly heartbreaking loss.
Now? I am rendered socially autistic. I swamp if conversation has any emotional content. No idea what to say. Also any place with people, loud noises, smells, bright lights and I shut down again, I can’t think nor self rescue. It is embarrassing and awkward and as a direct result I rarely leave home.
I was a results driven and proactive professional person prior. I do not give up. I will indeed keep ‘turning over stones’. This simply can not be as good as recovery gets. I thank you for your words of support. I will check out your recommendations!
Kind regards!
I am sorry to resd/hear your dilemma and the fact that
you feel invisible and not heard. That’s the worst feeling and you
are right for PTSD and complex trauma, mindfulness is not the
answer because of the possibility of dissociation. So, I think that the issue is not
the techniques but that you have not found a therapist that
can go beyond their ego to be able to support you in this process.
My recommendation– shop for a therapist that is open and genuine.
Hi Julia,
Thank you for your response. Dissociation is an uncontrollable and frightening aspect of my PTSD.
I have had difficulty maintaining therapists. This is a cause of shame for me. I always show up on time, am polite, and pay on the day. My life such as it is now, is tightly controlled, punctual and highly organised.
I am clearly the client from hell. I am numb nearly all the time which is a dual edged sword. It keeps me bleakly functioning but when I fall out of it I am suicidally raw. Unfortunately I am yet to get a handle on these states and any self mastery. Therapists understandably prefer to avoid this situation. There is a mighty difference in expressing a desire for ‘achieving peace’ and actioning suicide. It is very poorly understood. Please just ask me if you are concerned. I will tell you honestly the difference.
But they don’t. They simply choose not to rebook. Which leaves me raw.
Hi clemmy,
what a nightmare PTSD is.
I recognize the things you wrote.
What helped me, was a combination of consciouss breathing (Heart Math), EMDR en PRI (Past Reality integration). This one really helps to turn off the triggers, step by step.
I wish you confidence and compassion for yourself.
Liesbeth, the Netherlands
Thank you for your response Liesbeth.
A psychiatrist here tried EMDR on me. He had never received training in it, but it is simply waving fingers slowly and rhythmically, right? How hard could it be? Except I had a severe triggered abreaction and dissociated badly. He was unable to cope with it, so ushered me physically out the door and released me as fit to drive 45 km home. I have no memory of getting home. He refused to see me again, despite a written apology for my dissociative triggered behaviour.
I have never heard of PRI. I certainly will investigate it further. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response!
Clemmy, I do hear you …. I see what you see. I am an intuitive. My suggestion would be to substitute your pictures and sounds. Some people can’t stand viewing Bones, the TV show; others are fascinated by the science and biology of the human body and the parts. View your scenes as though you were a painter using bright colors. Amazing what a table of goopy oils , a canvas, and a headset of music with a spacie beat can do for the soul. I rotate mindfulness, TM, and hypnosis. I have been successful with old versions of hypnosis by Dick Sutphen, where viewing a TV screen is an added distraction from my anxiety. I recently had a revelational experience with an essential oil, Balance? Shocked me how in 3 minutes I was calmer and focused. My Best…don’t quit searching. The Universe has answers.
Hi Gretchen,
You have certainly brought up ideas that I have not considered. I will not quit searching! Thank you!
Dear Clemmy, i too suffer from ptsd and lifelong battle with anxiety. Ptsd is like looking at the world through glassrs that distort what iis happening in reality.
Firsr, I want you to open your mind to the hope that you can remove those glasses. In your last paragraph you say it simply cannot happen. I assert that it can, No one can help you, unless you firstopen your mind to the fact that you can and will release yourself from the traima and stress. We are each and everyone alone in the world as much as others are there around us to help heal our wounded minds, the actual path out is a journey we must explore to discover the keys that unlock those blinders that distoet our reality of now. Open your mind to yes I can recover is the first step. Something led you doen this path and I assire you there is a way out.
Find a lical therapist
It may take several tries to find the right one, but keep in mind it is you who must do the hard work to climb out of the hell hole of ptsd.
If you believein a higher power it is helpful to know that you can find peace in your soul again. It will take time, but, first you must say yes I am bigger than this thing that haunts me and I can recover.
Hi Clemmy, I’ve studied music composition for somatic relaxation (relaxing the body to relax the mind) and I’m curious as to what effect that would have in your case. A relaxed autonomic nervous system can open the way to a calm mind in many cases. There’s a free audio download on my web site (towards the bottom of the page) and I wonder what your results would be from listening to that. Let me know.
Cheers,
Colin
relaxationcentre.ca
Hi Clemmy, I am recovering from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and at 63 am finally experiencing marked improvement. What’s helped me is a combination of things, and I offer the work of Pete Walker as a good starting point. His website and books are invaluable to me. Self-compassion practices are also a lifeline for me along with yoga. But feeling better is possible! Tim Desmond has a good book on self-compassion and psychotherapy. There is help and hope for those of us who have been hurt so badly.
‘Eating raisins’ and ‘floating downstream’ are probably not the best place to start and you might need some anxiolytics to get through the first part of mind training. My recovery started when I discovered the peacefulness of a gathered, focused mind, although the first several years of trying only gave me the briefest of moments of peacefulness. Once I felt the calming, however brief and fleeting, I was sold on trying it again. And again. And again.
Everyone can focus on the experience of breathing: the air moving through nostrils and nasal passages; the change in position of ribcage, abdominal wall, and spine; the rocking back and forth of the whole body posture with in-breath and out-breath; cool air entering nostrils and warm air leaving; the rise and fall of shoulders with the breath, etc.
If you can’t do that start by feeling your clenched fist: the pressure points of fingers and knuckles on palm, the muscle strain & fatigue, the rigid joint positioning, etc. Then relax the fist and feel the changes in those sensations. It is the attention to PHYSICAL sensation (interoception, proprioception) that allow us to begin calming the mind (not the abstractions of imagining our thoughts as leaves floating down a stream, or ourselves sitting as a mountain, etc).
In severe anxiety, you must start with very brief attempts to focus on the breath, like 2-3 minutes at a time. When, and if, it becomes more comfortable, you can expand that to 5, 10, or 15 minutes at one attempt. Rather than the length of time or the success in getting there that you experience each time, it is returning time after time, day after day, to the attempt that produces results. Feel your body breathing for 3 minutes once a day, but do it every day. It’s not thinking, it is awareness of physical sensation that counts. Don’t try too hard, but try more often. Don’t think of it as mindfulness, it’s just feeling yourself breath. Don’t trust me, try it for yourself.
Hi Bruni,
I will certainly take onboard your message. I know breathing is an issue for me. I only have panic attacks in my sleep and wake up racing down the corridor trying to get outside to get enough air. And my resp rate is through the roof. I like your advice to start slowly with brief attempts. That is do-able. Thank you!
Hi Clemmy,
I’m curious if you have been able to use still and/ or active breathing techniques? Mindfulness in my understanding is conscious awareness whereas breath work and meditation is coming into the body to be present. I have not the opportunity to read all of the threads to this but have found breath work to be helpful with my clients who suffer with the most anxious and intrusive thoughts. Techniques also shift from working to not working so it is helpful to have more that one. 4 square breathing,using the five senses naming things you notice 54321 as well as noticing the anxiety and where you feel it in your body and breathing deeply while noticing. This has also worked to help my clients who have suffered with OCD. I hope this helps.
I was diagnosed with PTSD. and went through many therapy sessions with many therapist ..all saying that understood my condition ..many years and much money later ..I literally stumbled on a Trauma Therapist who really did understand my condition it is not PTSD but. Complex Trauma a very different bucket of worms….and once I knew what I was suffering from the internet became a useful tool . So with my new therapist and the knowledge I’m gaining via the Internet ..I feel for the first time in many years I will be able to change the nature of this beast .. I wish all of you/ us a heart felt warm deep recovery from your pain..Helen
I can really relate to what you wrote, Clemmy. I am a survivor of severe childhood trauma and I have struggled with meditation. I really tried several times and then I gained some information that validated that, for me, there are good reasons why I had difficulty meditating.
Several years ago when I’d been in recovery and had quite a bit of healing (but still couldn’t meditate) I met a woman who was in early recovery for very severe trauma. She had spent a number of years in a Buddhist community in the West and was an experienced meditator—that is, until her childhood trauma memories started surfacing and then she couldn’t meditate anymore because the trauma memories were coming up while she tried to meditate. Nobody in that community was able to help her, so she left and returned to her home state. She drove five hours to attend a 12-step meeting for survivors where I met her. Upon hearing some of my story of recovery she began commuting from a neighboring state to go to my therapist who is trained in emdr and hypnosis and familiar with the type of severe trauma we both had experienced.
The second validation I had re my difficulty with meditation came when I tried neurofeedback. The therapist who evaluated the results of my QEEG test said that some types of meditation would be difficult for me because of how my brain was affected by the trauma.
I am sorry you have had so much difficulty finding good helping professionals. I live near a large city and have been blessed to find some good therapists, but I had to look pretty hard. I attended 12-step meetings and met people who could recommend therapists they had worked with who were experienced in working with trauma survivors. I don’t know what you have access to where you live but Adult Children of Alcoholic and Dysfunctional Families (ACA), Codependents Anonymous (Coda) and Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA) are all very good places to learn about therapists and recovery resources from people who are recovering trauma survivors.
I have a master’s degree in Behavioral Science and planned on becoming a therapist, but then my trauma memories started surfacing and I had to spend a lot of time recovering in addition to my other responsibilities. Now I am trying to do what I can to help survivors of trauma have access good therapy. I’ve given several presentations to therapists and grad students interns on how to identify trauma survivors along with resources to learn how to treat trauma. I’ve listened to several of the free nicabm webinars and read a number of books by the presenters and include that information in my presentations—the most noteworthy for trauma imo is Besel van der Kolk
I don’t know if you’ve read his book “The Body Keeps the Score) but it’s been very validating and helpful for me. He says trauma survivors need: “…professional therapists who are trained to listen to the agonizing details of [clients] lives.” I know I needed to be heard and believed as I tried to make sense of what I was remembering and grieve the losses that are, I think, inevitable for trauma survivors.
I hope you are able to find a knowledgeable helping professional who understands the effects of trauma to join you on your journey as you heal from trauma. Another thing that helped me find effective therapists is a chapter in the book “Courage to Heal,” (near the very end of the book) called “Healing Resources.”
Although I have trouble meditation (other than guided meditations) I do use other mindfulness techniques to help me calm myself and be more present. I especially like Tara Brach’s self-compassion teachings.
I begin and end my day with a mindfulness practice for only 25 minutes. It grounds me and makes a tremendous difference in my life. I am very grateful for your programming.
At the moment I am suffering from depression and anxiety and I have adapted to my own situation some advice you have shared here about mindfulness and I have found them to be extremely helpful. Thank you very much.
Hi Ruth & every body,
I have a question. What If my anxiety is mainly felt by body symptoms like dizziness, light headed, tension in extremities, gut pain etc. Being concentrated in the here and now aggravates my symptoms. That’s why I’m not able to enjoy Meditation or to relax while putting attention on my body.
Do you think with my situation it will be possible for me to practice and benefeat mindfulness?
thanks Raquel
Hi Raquel,
I have clients who have reported similar difficulties as you desribe. Possibly you want to first be able to get to know and experience a feeling of complete safety in your body….I am not sure what the cause of your anxiety is, but if it has to do with trauma or problematic attachment, your anxiety could be trying to ‘help’ you by keeping you out of danger and it might not be able to just give it’s job up…
Kind Regards,
And wishing you well,
Hi Christina and thank you for your reply.
I’m not sure what causes my anxiety but I know it’s a pattern from adolescence. Yes it’s true that then long ago, I was so miserable and worried that it was probably too much for a child and a young girl…so my body was developing physical symptoms.
I don’t need this “protection” any more. I’m looking for a way to free myself of the annoying symptoms! I was thinking may be Mindfulness – but not sure it is good for me?
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for this. A colleague and myself have been deliveringthe eight week MBSR group to teachers and social care workers over the last two years. They all opted in to do the training as a means of learning skills to deal with workplace stress We conducted a small study at the beginning of this period with a cohort of teachers and care workers and using the MAAS and the Cohen perceived stress Scaleas measures we had a reduction of stress across all participants, reducing stress in the care worker group by 28% and in the teachers group by 21% This amall study was at the beginning of our delivery of mindfulness training. It was in no way rigorous, and the experience has given us hope and experience as well as ideas for a further more rigorous study. We have both recently been studying the impact of compassion practices along with mindfulness and any studies you can direct me to regarding that would be mosthelpful.
I am particularly interested in the use of mindfulness and mindfulness and compassion with trauma.
thank you
I was diagnosed with Tinnitus 5 months ago. I have been receiving mindfulness training and meditate almost every day. I do feel less anxious, but it probably takes time to habituate, if one ever really does – its more a case that you have to learn to accept and live with it, but look for ways to reduce the anxiety it causes me. So anything that can help me to achieve this is always most welcome.
dear Ruth,
I usually bring people’s awareness first to sensing into the body – where there is armoring, pain, tension and contraction, or feelings of emptiness and weakness. From there, I like to invite people to bring awarness of the breath into the belly center (below the navel) to ground all floating thoughts, and after that has been successful to sense into the specific areas of the body where they are holding something….and to ask the wisdom of their body to speak to them about what has been causing it anxiety, stress etc.
many thanks for your e-mails!
Saki, from the Netherlands
Mindfulness is expanded awareness. It permits being wholly in the moment.
When practicing this, one does not get “blindsided” by incidental intervening events,
which might ordinarily–in an anxiety state—bring shock to sensibilities. That is,
when shit happens, it becomes merely incidental to one’s awareness which is already
engaged and too pre-occupied to be disturbed. J/ Bice