Suicidal Thoughts Relief from Meditation
Meditation May Relieve Suicidal Thoughts
Mindfulness practice relieves suicidal thoughts
How and why can meditation relieve suicidal thoughts? Studies indicate an increased amount of proof that some therapists are having success using meditation or mindfulness practices as a tool to dismantle suicidal thoughts, suicidal thinking and depression?
One of the better studies is The Use of MindfulnessBased Approaches for Suicidal Patients by J. Mark G. Williams and Michaela Swales.
The authors evaluate in depth two leading approaches and state: “Mindfulness-based approaches are becoming more widely used for individuals at risk of suicidal behavior: in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (in Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and as a way to reduce relapse in recurrent major depression (in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy).”
The authors provide evidence and success in both Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and with very good descriptions of the practices.
Mindfulness is a discipline and practice for conscious living. Mindfulness and meditation are here used interchangeably. The practice allows the meditator to separate the thoughts from the thinker. Watching your thoughts becomes akin to watching a movie. You don’t act on thoughts and are not compelled to identify with them as the same as oneself. They become simply a movie of the mind to which one pays attention. The act of paying attention allows them to dissolve without the necessity of “acting out” those thoughts. So suicidal thoughts then become a movie of the mind: granted a horror movie but a movie none the less.
Hands on resource:
Mindfulness Reduces Stress and Anxiety
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2 Responses to “Suicidal Thoughts Relief from Meditation”
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The keyword here is MAY. Meditation can be a big help to see things in perspective. But what if this new perspective convinces a person that suicide is a valid option?
Tayelrand,
You bring up an important point. It’s important to seek other sources and perhaps a mentor so you can be certain that you are utilizing meditation practices properly. That way, you will have a better opportunity to recognize thoughts that are unhealthy (such as a thought that suicide is a valid option). As always, when we are dealing with the mind to help heal problems OF the mind, we must be careful and seek others to assist as us well.
SM