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MINDFULNESS MEDITATION FOR DEPRESSION AND FAMILY PROBLEMS IN AUSTRALIA MyLy Nguyen "We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that something deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." E.E. Cummings (1894-1962) In Australia, each year more than 800,000 adults and 95,000 children and adolescents are affected by depression. It has been found that one in five people will experience depression at some point in their lives (Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, 2006). Researchers have linked depression to a decrease in overall family functioning. Examples of family dysfunction might include poor communication; confusion over roles; difficulty in solving family problems; poor family interaction and a lack of emotional responsiveness. By recognising the potential risks, psychotherapist and psychiatrist associations in Australia are now developing training programs that integrate Buddhism practices and psychotherapy for counsellors and psychotherapists. Although Buddhist psychotherapy is a recent discipline, it is growing rapidly among the mental health professional and religious leaders in Australia. This paper reflects the benefits of mindfulness and compassionate communication in family life as a treatment for stress, depression and anxiety. To address how meditation can help them to find effective ways of dealing and coping with issues and problems that they face in their daily lives. Human Suffering In the first sermon delivered by the Buddha after enlightenment, he said, "Birth is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow, and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, association with the unloved or unpleasant condition is suffering, separation from the beloved or pleasant condition is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering" (Dhamma, 1997, pp. 17-18). In this context, “suffering is generated by the mental tendency toward essentialism" based on "experiencing thoughts, emotions, behaviours, or self as discrete and unchanging” (Kumar, 2005). What the real cause of suffering is the reaction of the mind, the reaction is repeated moment after moment, intensifying with each repetition, and developing into craving or aversion. This is what in Buddha first sermon; called tanha, literally "thirst": the mental habit of insatiable longing for what is not, which implies an equal and irremediable dissatisfaction with what is. (Hart, 1987, p.38). When the mind developed the capacity to make complex, symbolically encoded models of reality, this established an enduring tension between inner and outer worlds. In basic terms, the complexity of mind is reflected in the complexity of psychological suffering. Depression and Relationship Breakdown According to the World Health Organization by 2020, depression is expected to become the world’s second largest health problem and one of the greatest causes of loss of life due to disability and mortality. It is estimated that more than 300 million people worldwide experience depression and this number will rise over next ten years. There are over 800,000 suicides recorded worldwide and the majority of these are associated with depression. (www.mentalheallth.gov.au). In a recent Australian community study, more than half the people who were identified as having common mental disorders, such as depression or anxiety (typically having symptoms for at least six months and eight "days out of role in the last month"), had not consulted a professional for a mental health problem. The study also indicated that two-thirds of refugee women in Australia suffered ongoing forms of serious mental and emotional disability, that arise from their pre-immigration experience symptoms, which persisted for many years after their initial arrival, largely as a result of settlement problems (Australian Survey of Disability and Handicap, 1998). Furthermore, the study found that migrants with low family income, receiving public assistance and with poor English-speaking skills were likely to exhibit depression or anxiety more than other migrants. Hence, mental illness had affected every community, family life since the beginning of time. The most common form of mental illness is depression, which is now considered to be among the most important public health concern, affecting communities around the world and affecting relationships with family and friends. Therefore, leads to marriage problems, family problems, financial problems, difficulty finding and holding down a job, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. The cost of psychological disorders in Australia was estimated in 1993 at between $3 billion and $6 billion per year (Cotton & Jackson, 1996). Common disorders of depression are now believed lead to relationship problems’ family conflict and violence poverty; and contribute to family separation. Merikangas (1984) founds marital separation rank as one of the most stressful life events of all, then losing partner or child thorough bereavement or receiving gaol sentence. Taking Hold of Your Mind Like Buddhism, psychoanalysis sees suffering mental health problem as implicit in the structure of the mind. This is due to psychological trauma and conflict are inevitable and become structuralized in the mind. In observation, I have found that Buddhism recognises human essential nature - ‘Buddha nature’ or ‘unconditioned mind’ as vast, unlimited, radiant, and clear. In contrast, human ordinary state of mind, or ‘conditioned mind’, has the tendency to be restless and unfocused; filled with cognitive activity, which is recurring and self-directed. Therefore, meditation as a way to access the divine ‘life force’ that lies within us as a source of energy and wisdom, connecting the personal to the universal. Some see stilling is an end in itself, for others it is a preparation for worship and prayer, opening the mind to the spiritual and to the affirming of positive thoughts. A possible salve, according to research from the University of Rochester, is in a concept that has been the foundation of Buddhism for many millennia - mindfulness. In Australia, mindfulness techniques have developed out of traditional meditation practices and are being used therapeutically in a number of forms. In 2003, in a conference hosted by the American Psychological Association, a trial of mindfulness meditation among overweight binge eaters showed significant benefits. Mindfulness meditation teaches you to really shift how you attend to whatever is coming into your awareness. It is about training awareness in a way so that you can experience what is really going on from moment to moment, instead of having your mind automatically jump to something else. One of the first applications of mindfulness meditation was by Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues who developed a group-based stress reduction program for medically ill patients known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 1985). It proved that mindfulness practice have been beneficial to many people in Western society who might be unwilling to adopt Buddhist traditions or vocabulary. Thus, Western researchers and clinicians who have introduced to mindfulness practice in mental health treatment programs have brought the appreciations and applications of mindfulness, out from its origins in Buddhist monasteries and meditation centres, into mainstream contemporary life and application (Kabat-Zinn, 1982 & Linehan, 1993). Reflections on Mindfulness While mindfulness is closely associated with Buddhism, the most common and basic object of ‘mindful’ meditation is to focus on the naturally calming physical process of breathing. In the ’mindfulness of breathing’, one stills the mind through attending to the sensations of breathing. It is about not just doing things, but sitting there and being aware. When a person with depression knows how to develop an inner calm centeredness, as well as an insightful understanding into the dynamics of their mind, body, and heart, he or she will reduce the incidence of ‘emotional fatigue’ and ‘burn-out suffering’ Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh (2008) explains how to acquire the skills of mindfulness in his latest book “Miracle of Mindfulness”. By using gentle anecdotes and practical exercises will help us arrive at a greater self-understanding and peacefulness. Once we have these skills, we can slow our lives down and discover how to live in the moment - even simple acts like washing the dishes or drinking a cup of tea may be transformed into acts of meditation. Though to achieve this, the patient needs to practise, and practise involves more than just learning something new and repeating it. It means making changes to their attitude and lifestyle. In the other hand, family need to be practice loving-kindness toward the love ones, often translated as compassion. Gyatso (1994) defined compassion as active caring, in contrast to the more passive connotations of pity or sympathy. Principles of meditation are needed to all professionals of the humane, social, law or medicine, with a strong emphasis on the preservation of family relationship. Relationships Australia states in their website that “family meditation will encourage each person in family tot talk openly; encourage family members to find best solutions for the whole family; allow everyone an equal says; and check and record agreements”. A similar approach that I found in Family Court website “Meditation helps the person to: decide which areas are in dispute; explore each person’s needs and interests; explore possible solution, taking one problem at a time; select the most suitable solution; clarify family agreement” (www.familycourt.gov.au). Mindfulness therefore is an extension of a compassionate attitude, while at the same time compassion is necessary for mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness and compassion are frequently discussed as two intertwined aspects of practice in Buddhist literature. References Cotton, P. and Jackson, H. (1996), Early Intervention and Prevention in Mental Health, The Australian Psychological Society, Melbourne. Dhamma, R. (1997). The first discourse of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Family Court of Asutralia website: www.familycourt.gov.au Gyatso, T. (1994). A flash of lightning in the dark of night: A guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life. (Padmakara Translation Group, Trans.). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publishing. Har, W. (1987). The Art of Living : Vipassana Meditation: As Taught by S. N. Goenka. Harper. SanFrancisco Kabat-Zinn, J., Lipworth, L., & Burney, R. (1985). ‘The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain’. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 8, 163-190. Merikangas, K.R. (1984). Divorce and assortative mating among depressed patients. American Journal of Psychiatric, 141, p74-76. Relationship Australia websirte: www.relationships.com.au The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (1997). www.mentalhealth.gov.au (accessed 28/10/04) Thich Nhat Hanh (2008). The miracle of mindfulness. Ebury Publishing. BIOGRAPHY Myly Nguyen is a research candidate in the School of Business, RMIT University - Australia. Her research is an exploration of change in information management practices in Vietnam. She is also completed Grad-Dip Arts with School of Historical Studies at Monash University. Her interest includes examining the beliefs and practices of different religious traditions and Buddhist philosophy and psychology.
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