Meditation: Is It the Cure All?

Meditation is an old practice that has been around for about 5,000 years and it’s no wonder. Although it is still relatively new in the western world, it has not taken long for the mental and physical benefits to be noticed. In Daniel Bohr's book, The Ravenous Brain - How The New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning, he seeks to understand how consciousness works in the brain and the implications it has in better understanding the mental ailments that plague people today. He takes a look at how mental illnesses are treated today and suggests something that the scientific community has only begun to understand and use, meditation. Bohr praises the practice of meditation, stating that, "it's been shown to profoundly help virtually any mental ailment, whether the person has a psychiatric condition or is merely suffering from the stresses and strains of everyday life" (261). He goes on to report that meditation causes increases in attention span, mental alertness, reduction of stress and anxiety, and overall increases the awareness of the person. 

Interestingly enough, meditation has also been discovered to aid in the curbing of addiction. According to the article in Time, "When Meditation Helps Mental Illness -- And When It Hinders", meditation has done a remarkable job in helping smokers kick the addiction of cigarettes. In a study done on cigarette smokers it was reported that, "smokers who meditated were 60% less likely to smoke than those who were simply taught to relax various part of the body"(Time). The study suggests that there is something going on during meditation that is lessening the cravings. Another study found that the meditation lessened the connection between the craving and cigarettes and it seemed the more a person meditated, the less they smoked. This indicates that the more a person becomes aware of him/herself, the more he/she will be able to control those cravings and even eliminate them. This aligns with Daniel Bohr's belief that, "meditation really can cause awareness to expand in a nourishing way, and consciousness is intimately linked with attention", so the more a person is self aware of his/her cravings, the better he/she will be able to control them (262).  

But meditation may not be a cure all, people with depression or past experiences of trauma sometimes are not able to deal with anxious thoughts brought on by the self awareness in meditation. Time reports that people with depression, "may be plagued by intrusive thoughts, feelings and images of the past during their mindfulness exercises". But that does not mean that they cannot still try and benefit from meditation since it can still provide relief. It is simply suggested that meditation should be done with the help of an expert so as to be guided in ways that will greatly help rather than hinder their mental health. All in all, meditation is still a relatively new practice in science and although it seems to help greatly in vast different areas, it still remains to be seen how effective it will be in helping those with mental ailments.  

Link to article: http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/07/does-meditation-help-or-hinder-mental illnesses/

References: 

Bor, D. (2012). The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. New York: Basic Books.

Svalavitz, Maia. (2013, August 3). When Meditation Helps Mental Illness — And When It Hinders. Time. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/07/does-meditation-help-or-hinder- mentalillnesses/