For women who cannot have children, infertility can be a source of anxiety. However, practicing mindfulness meditation could help them reduce stress and depressive symptoms, and even increase their overall well-being.
From bookstore shelves to smartphone apps, mindfulness meditation is everywhere. According to doctors and scientists, however, it is far from being a simple fad and has repeatedly proven its effectiveness, whether it is to relieve pain, reduce tinnitus or treat addictions.
According to a new study conducted by the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, and published in the journal Stress & Health, practicing mindfulness is also effective in combating chronic stress and depression.
Relieve the psychological burden of infertility
To reach this conclusion, the researchers based their work on the follow-up of 62 infertile women. All of them followed an 8-week mindfulness program that included, among other things, meditation, relaxation and guided imagery. 37 members of a control group were not subjected to any mindfulness program.
After 6 weeks of practicing mindfulness, the median number of symptoms of chronic stress fell from 6 to 2. As for depressive symptoms, they also decreased after the program, while the general well-being of the women monitored declined. improved. For comparison, the researchers observed that none of these results changed significantly in the control group.
“Infertile women are often overwhelmed by chronic stress and are at increased risk for depression,” said Dr. Fernando Reis of the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais. “We found that a relatively brief program of mindfulness practice reduced their perception of stress and depressive symptoms in them.” He said a mindfulness program could offer them “additional support to ease the psychological burden of infertility.”
Mindfulness, what is it?
Theorized in 1994 by the American physician John Kabat-Zinn, the concept of mindfulness (“mindfulness“, in English) is to intentionally pay attention to internal (sensations, emotions, thoughts, states of mind) or external experiences of the present moment, without making a value judgment and without particular expectations. Meditation allows in particular to develop this state of mindfulness, but it is not necessarily necessary to acquire a particular technique to practice mindfulness.
Accessible to all, it can also be acquired by becoming aware of the present moment on a daily basis and by taking a step back from his emotions to get out of his automatisms.
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