Posts Tagged ‘meditation’

one-week break from social media

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324

Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The intervention effect on well-being was partially mediated by a reduction in total weekly self-reported minutes on SM. The intervention effect on depression and anxiety was partially mediated by a reduction in total weekly self-reported minutes on Twitter and TikTok, and TikTok alone, respectively. The present study shows that asking people to stop using SM for 1 week leads to significant improvements in well-being, depression, and anxiety.

mental distress

New study finds the number of Americans reporting “extreme” mental distress grew from 3.5% in 1993 to 6.4% in 2019; “extreme distress” here is defined as reporting serious emotional problems and mental distress in all 30 of the past 30 days from r/science

New study finds number of Americans in extreme mental distress now 2x higher than 1993 (6.4% vs 3.5%)

++++++++++++
more on stress in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=stress

burnout w Brene Brown

Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle

Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle

Staff Burn‐Out

First published: Winter 1974

https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x

+++++++++++++++++++++
more on burnout in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=burnout

for teachers against stress

Teachers Are Living in a Tinderbox of Stressful Conditions. These Scientific Approaches Can Help.

By Sheila Ohlsson Walker     Jul 1, 2020

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-07-01-teachers-are-living-in-a-tinderbox-of-stressful-conditions-these-scientific-approaches-can-help

Other essential elements include meditation, breathwork, yoga, cultivating and maintaining high-quality relationships, and intentional reinforcement of mindsets that promote human connection, such as gratitude, altruism and collective efficacy. What’s real in the mind is real is real in the body, and it is our perceptions—not “objective” reality—that drive our biochemistry. Accordingly, finding a silver lining—even under the most dire of circumstances—instigates a biochemical “upward spiral” which fosters constructive thinking in a demanding moment and, over the long-term, protects health and psychological well-being.

meditation and stress

Participating in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress. from r/science

Eight weeks to a better brain

a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany.

Amishi Jha, a University of Miami neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training’s effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, “These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training.

screen time and mental health

At Your Wits’ End With A Screen-Obsessed Kid? Read This

Anya Kamenetz and Chloee Weiner Jun 30

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53910/at-your-wits-end-with-a-screen-obsessed-kid-read-this

The relationship between teens, screens and mental health is complex and multidirectional

Abby’s mom has sent her articles about research linking teen depression and suicide to screen use. A 2017 article in The Atlantic magazine — “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” — drew a link between negative trends in teens’ mental health and the rise of smartphones and social media.

The negative relationship between teens’ mental health and technology use is real — but tiny, the researchers found. “A teenager’s technology use can only predict less than 1% of variation in well-being. It’s so small that it’s surpassed by whether a teenager wears glasses to school.”

How to strike a balance? To start, try mentoring, not monitoring

Heitner’s work emphasizes a concept that’s also put forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics in its guidelines for parents: media mentoring.

Look for the good in your kids’ media interests

For Benji, Minecraft is a social space where he plays with other kids and pulls pranks. He says he wishes his parents understood more about his screen use — “why it’s entertaining and why we want to do it. And also, for YouTube, why I watch other people playing games. When you watch sports, you’re watching another person playing a game! Why is it so different when you’re watching a person play a video game?”

Work together as a family to make changes.

+++++++++++++
more on contemplative computing in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=contemplative+computing

1 2 3