writing HW

Examples of Fast Facts

1. A study was conducted on healthcare professionals to see if there was an improvement in self-compassion. They study was administered by having the healthcare professionals fill out a survey that measured their self-compassion, burnout, and quality of life before during and after mindfulness training. They found that the healthcare professionals had an increase in self- compassion particularly in the area of self judgement (Raab, Sogge, Parker, & Flament, 2015 pp. 506).

Opinion: The study says that this may be due to reduced negative self-talk, which I agree with. As I have gone through the class I have noticed that one of the main focuses for us is to understand judgement either for other or of ourselves, and looking into why we feel that judgement. Understanding why we may judge ourselves can be helpful because we can begin to see how we shouldn’t judge ourselves that we should accept who we are and just improve on ourselves. Once we understand that we won’t practice negative self-talk and push ourselves down.

Citation: Raab, K., Sogge, K., Parker, N., & Flament, M. F. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and self-compassion among mental healthcare professionals: a pilot study. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 18(6), 503-512. doi:10.1080/13674676.2015.1081588

2. In a study done with two individuals in an intimate relationship with one another, they had at least one individual from the couple undergo mindfulness training. They made sure to document the partners that felt mindfulness training would not benefit their significant other. They made sure to have that partner explain any changes they perceived while the other partner was going through the training. They found that, “even intimate partners with a more tempered view of the MBSR training’s effects noticed some increased emotional balance in MBSR graduates.” (Gillespie, Davey, & Flenmke pp. 402).

Opinion: This shows that even if individuals don’t believe that mindfulness training will help their partners that they were able to perceive changes in their significant others moods. To me that means that someone who undergoes mindfulness training actually is perceived by others to be in a good mood. This is important to me because this means that mindfulness training not only has an effect on the individual who is taking the training but those who are closest to them. If they are able to perceive that their significant other has better emotional balance that is going to relieve some stress that they may have had in their relationship.

Citation: Gillespie, B., Davey, M., & Flemke, K. (2015). Intimate Partners' Perspectives on the Relational Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training: A Qualitative Research Study. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 37(4), 396-407. doi:10.1007/ s10591-015-9350-x

“This suggests that occasionally certain amounts of stress may be good if it motivates people to seek out challenges and helps them get into the flow, engendering goal achievement, and thereby increasing satisfaction and happiness.”

Opinion: Sometimes, it is difficult to find the motivation to accomplish your goals. I have found that every now and then, some manageable stress can help me push through, and finally get to where I want to be. A lot of times, I realize I am stressed to finish an assignment, or get a good grade in a class, but that pressure brings out the best in me and helps me accomplish things I never thought I could before. That feeling of achieving something you didn’t think you could a lot of times brings you the most joy and happiness.

Ng, W., Diener, E., Aurora, R., & Harter, J. (2009). Affluence, Feelings of Stress, and Well- Being. Social Indicators Research, 94(2), 257-271.

“In other words, having a close connection to one’s own internal values and having a sense of personal meaning to life are important for subsequent well-being (and the absence of stress).”

Opinion: For me, knowing what I want to do with my life is very important. It is difficult for me to find motivation if I don’t know what I’m working towards. Having that drive helps me get through school with less stress because I’m not scrambling to discover what I want out of life. For a lot of people, that is the biggest and most stressful question when you’re at a young age. Once you discover what you want to do, a lot of stress is lifted off your shoulders.

Rowold, J. (2011). Effects of Spiritual Well-Being on Subsequent Happiness, Psychological Well-Being, and Stress. Journal of Religion and Health, 50(4), 950-963.

Examples of Fast Fact Responses

1. It makes sense that smelling certain things can create an environment that helps individuals feel better emotionally. It makes sense because something’s smell can bring back strong feelings of something that has happened in the past. So if something made us unbelievably happy in our past while we were smelling someone’s cologne or perfume our minds make a note of it. Later on if we smell that same cologne or perfume we may smile and not actually know the reason why. So it’s interesting that they found these specific oils and their aroma tended to be the most effective when combating depression.

2. I can see how doing group activities can be beneficial to some veterans. However some veterans with PTSD find it hard to be in big groups of people. While group activities are great to relieve stress it is better to start with smaller groups so they aren’t overwhelmed with the groups. Once they are comfortable with the group you can then start to attend larger group activities. This will allow them to have the experience of group activities that can help relieve some stress while also slowly exercising their ability to be around big groups.

I strongly agree with your second quote about the insufficient amount of sleep causing more stress. I have found this to be true with myself as I'm sure many others would agree. Whenever I don't get enough sleep, I can feel my stress levels rise. I become aggravated, and even the littlest things feel 10 times more stressful. This then makes me feel like I need to take a nap during the day which can cause me to get even more behind and stressed. For me, the best thing to do is just get enough sleep during the night so that I don't feel as stressed out the next day.

I think fact 9 is interesting, because I think we all can relate to this and not just athletes. If we are stressed out, our mental condition suffers greatly, but that does not stop there because our minds are the chief of our bodies. A lot of the times when we get into stressful events such writing major exams or being in a stressful job, they drain our minds and drive us to the point of fatigue, that leaves us needing to boost ourselves with things like caffeine or sugar.