MB Mindfulness

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Mindfulness therapy may be an effective way of mitigating the stress experienced by spouses and other informal caregivers for military veterans, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests. Kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo led a pilot study that taught caregivers of veterans in central Illinois mindfulness-based cognitive therapy skills. The caregivers in the treatment group - mostly women caring for their spouses - reported significant decreases in their perceived levels of stress, anxiety and worry. By contrast, the researchers found no significant changes in any of these symptoms among the participants assigned to the waitlist control group. "This not only shows the feasibility but also the promise that mindfulness has for improving mental health outcomes in this vulnerable, hard-to-reach population," Lara-Cinisom...

By Jonathan Kaupanger   Chronic pain is a really, really complicated thing to manage.   Current treatment for chronic pain is very limited, so a researcher at Veterans Affairs is doing something to change this but she wants your help. Mindfulness Approaches to Reduce Veterans Pain and Enhance Life or MARVEL is a six-year study that’s starting next year at the VA medical clinic in Minneapolis, MN.   The end result will be a new way to deliver a non-pharmacological, pain reducing treatment for veterans. Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment.   Typically it's developed through the practice of meditation and other training.   Mindfulness meditation is one form of non-drug approaches to pain that has been shown to be effective, but there’s just not an easy way to get this to everyone who needs it. “Right now some veterans use something called mindfulness based stre...