Mindfulness vs. dysfunctional thinking.

I enjoyed this article from Psychology Today, about the benefits of mindfulness meditation to cope with anxiety. In the writer's words, "One of the first prerequisites common to both cognitive therapy and mindfulness practice is learning that we do not have to believe all of our thoughts." He goes on to say:

For the past 16 years, I have also had success teaching what I call a "letting go meditation." In that meditation, students/clients can practice letting go of thoughts that were previously contributing to distress. The exercise serves several functions:

1. It demonstrates that thoughts in themselves do not cause distress or depression. It is the way in which the thoughts are dealt with that causes the distress. This technique allows people to gain this insight through their own experience.

2. One gains experience and practice in non-judgmentally noticing thoughts. One can include thoughts that have been bothersome. If someone has been getting panic attacks, typical thoughts might be "I might die," or "This is horrible," "I wish my heart would slow down." In that way he gets practice in mindfully noticing the thoughts that are a component of his problem.

3. Not only does one get practice in mindfully dealing with thoughts, as he practices the letting go exercise, the physical reaction to the thoughts can continue to decrease. In a sense, the exercise can act as desensitization to the thoughts. The thoughts that were formally very "charged," become no big deal.

He then goes on to tell the reader exactly how to go about his mindfulness practice. This stuff really works, and this article is a good intro for those who are new to it, and a good reminder for the rest of us.

Panic and shame.

Shame is part of the experience for most people with panic disorder. These are people for whom being out of control is unacceptable; that they lose control regularly fills their heads with thoughts of their inadequacy. That they often stop going to the places or participating in the activities that tend to make them panic only makes the shame worse.

According to a recent study at the University of Alberta:

...people who feel debilitated by shame tend to internalize and over-personalize the situation. They also seem resigned to being unable to change their feelings or their fate....

...one of the key components to overcoming these feelings is to step back from the problem and view the picture in a different light. When sufferers can identify external factors that contributed to their actions or situation (for example, discrimination or peer pressure) and differentiate between being a bad person versus doing something bad, they can begin to break the grip of hopelessness that plagues them.

Central to breaking the shame spiral? "Only connect," as E.M. Forster wrote. Or, as the piece about the U. of Alberta puts it: "...one of the key steps to overcoming a profound sense of shame is making connections, be it with family and friends, a higher power, or humanity as a whole."

I've written about this topic before. From where I sit, the "accept yourself" step is the hardest part of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Don't worry, be happy.

I've spent a fair amount of time lately writing about ways society and we as individuals can and have failed to respond constructively to anxiety, stress, and fear. Which is why its nice to learn, in a recent USA Today article, about people who are making and researchers who are studying healthy responses to fear. For example:

* At the U. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, researchers are gathering evidence of the importance of "psychological wealth" in addition to financial wealth in dealing with stress successfully; as one researcher puts it, "Wealth really means having what you need, and money gives only one part of what we need."

* In South Dakota, a website designer has cultivated a positive outlook by keeping a gratitude journal -- and now has created a gratitude-journal iPhone app.

* A woman in Texas has built community by creating an online Secret Society of Happy People to help folks cope. Currently there are more than 7,000 members.

These days, of course, lots of folks are coping with what might be called recession anxiety. Less effective ways of dealing with recession anxiety include overemphasizing the value of money and underemphasizing that of positive experiences:

Psychologists also have found that being highly materialistic affects happiness, with those who are most concerned about money and possessions actually being less happy.

Keeping too close tabs on the economy, such as daily monitoring of economic indicators that have been on a roller-coaster ride since the recession began, also hinders happiness.

"We find that people whose moods are up and down a lot are less happy. People who are less reactive to every event, in general, are happier," Diener says.

But what about what money can buy? Previous research has found that using money to pay for something novel, social or experiential brings more happiness than buying things.

Some newer studies confirm these results. San Francisco State University researchers presented findings earlier this year to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, based on what participants said about their purchases.

They said they thought eating out or buying theater tickets was money better spent than on more things, such as a new tech toy or clothing, and the experiential purchase provided greater happiness for themselves and others, regardless of the amount they paid or their income.

If you're thinking, "Huh, sounds like a good time to invest in entertainment stocks," you might be missing the point.

Illuminating depression.

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Nearly 15 million Americans suffer from depression. Learn why depression is more than just "feeling blue," the difficulties of treating it with traditional medications and how new tools and research are shedding light on brain structures that may play an integral role in treating it.

The QUEST page for this program is an excellent minisite about depression, and the way journalism should look in the digital era.

Is LSD the new Xanax?

Studies have shown that psychedelic drugs may well be effective against anxiety. Unfortunately, thanks to 1960s society's fears of drug-crazed maniacs running wild in the streets, for the last generation or so, psychedelics have been strictly verboten when it comes to research into potential mental health benefits. That is, until lately. According a recent Daily Beast article, researchers are returning to psychedelics as a study subject:

The watershed moment came last September, when the FDA approved a clinical trial on the use of LSD to treat anxiety in cancer patients. According to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (or MAPS), it was the first time since the 1960s that a medical study involving LSD was permitted by the federal government. MAPS Director Rick Doblin called it “a symbol that the psychedelic renaissance is here.”

MAPS reached its fundraising goal of $225,000 in April, and will soon run its LSD trials in Switzerland, where it’s easier to legally obtain acid. The FDA’s approval is crucial, however, because it means it will accept the data that comes out of the Swiss trials. If those results prove the drug works, the agency will then run similar tests for safety and effectiveness. Doblin thinks that because of this ruling, it’s highly possible that within 10 years LSD prescriptions for treating anxiety associated with life-threatening illnesses could be available in America.

Several other clinical trials involving LSD are also under way, one of them at Harvard’s McLean Hospital. Cluster Busters, a nonprofit advocacy group co-founded by Wold, is funding research by Harvard’s Dr. John Halpern, who recently administered a modified LSD molecule to a handful of cluster patients, successfully ending most of their headache cycles for weeks or months. Halpern thinks they may have finally found the cure for an ailment that has mystified physicians for years, and hopes to run a larger clinical trial soon.

Other universities are beginning to take seriously research into LSD and other psychedelics as well. UC-Berkeley is working with the California Pacific Medical Center to understand how LSD affects the brain. And a lab at Johns Hopkins is giving subjects psilocybin mushrooms to test their “personally and spiritually meaningful experiences.”

Who knows? Maybe someday it'll be legal to trip your way to a healthier, happier you -- under a doctor's supervision, of course.