The Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Suicidal Ideation, Stress and Sleep Quality.

OBJECTIVES: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-29 years, and early intervention on suicidal ideation and risk factors should be priortized. Brief mindfulness meditation (BMM) is convenient and cost-effective in improving physical and mental well-being, but less is known about its efficacy for suicidal ideation, stress and sleep quality. We investigated the effects of BMM on suicidal ideation, stress, and sleep quality for individuals with suicide risk. METHODS: Sixty-four college students with high suicidal ideation (aged 18-30 years) were randomly allocated to either a BMM (n = 32) or control group (n = 32). The BMM was based on Anapanasati and core mindfulness concepts. Sixty participants completed all scheduled sessions including pretest, one month of intervention or waiting, and posttest. Suicidal ideation was measured with the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Stress was evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale and salivary cortisol levels. Sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and actigraphy accompanied with 7-day sleep diaries. RESULTS: Post-intervention, the BMM group showed significant decrease in suicidal ideation with a large effect size; the decrease showed a medium effect size in the control group. The BMM group, but not the control group, showed significant decrease in morning salivary cortisol and sleep latency, and improved sleep efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: BMM could help reduce suicidal ideation, stress, and sleep disturbance for individuals with high suicidal ideation and it may implicate effective suicide prevention strategy.

Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Emotion Processing.

Mindfulness-based interventions have previously been shown to have positive effects on psychological well-being. However, the time commitment, teacher shortage, and high cost of classic mindfulness interventions may have hindered efforts to spread the associated benefits to individuals in developing countries. Brief mindfulness meditation (BMM) has recently received attention as a way to disseminate the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions. Most existing BMM methods are adaptations of the classic approach. Few studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of BMM. We developed a 15-min BMM named JW2016, which is based on the core concepts of mindfulness, Anapanasati (breath meditation of Buddhist Vipassana), our practical experience, and the results of scientific reports on meditation. We investigated the effects of this BMM on mood and emotion processing in an effort to create an effective, convenient, safe, and standardized BMM method that could benefit individuals with limited time or money to devote to meditation. Forty-six healthy participants (aged 18-25 years) were randomly allocated to the BMM group (n = 23) or the emotional regulation education (ERE) control group (n = 23). Forty-two of the study participants cooperated fully in all measurements and interventions (one time daily for seven consecutive days). Mood was measured with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) and the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Emotion processing was evaluated by assessing performance on an emotion intensity task, an emotional memory task, and an emotional dot-probe task. After intervention, the BMM group, but not the ERE group, showed a significant decreases in emotional intensity in response to positive as well as negative emotional stimuli, response time for emotional memory, and duration of attention bias toward negative emotional stimuli. Negative effects on mood state were found in the ERE group but not in the BMM group. This study demonstrated that BMM may improve aspects of emotion processing such as emotion intensity, emotional memory, and emotional attention bias. JW2016 BMM may be an effective, convenient, safe and standardized way to help practitioners remain focused and peaceful without any negative effect on emotion.