Gaining Insight With the Mindfulness Response
The Mindfulness Response combines self-compassion with self-esteem to help people reach and complete their goals. Reaching a goal is not easy and new methods were applied. The group encouraged smaller accomplishments and accepted slower progress until the symptoms were stabilized. Participants talked of negative thoughts, relationship stressors, and interruptions to concentration and how they created lower self-esteem. Collaborating with a team of providers helped participants re-examine goals to make them realistic. A licensed therapist, not a coach was encouraged for severe symptoms and serious mental illness.
The Mindfulness Response helps us examine how we got to “now.” Not all participants were accepting of what happened and those with paranoia or delusions had difficulty making connections. Some participants needed time for medications and therapy to help alleviate distressing symptoms. Working with a team of providers and supportive people sped up the healing process. Being honest about feelings, symptoms, and side effects and communicating openly with providers helps the team understand personal needs. The group reminded participants to be wary of going off medications without telling providers. They talked about side effects personal experiences and how it slowed down the process.
What happened that may have started this episode?
Grief and loss issues
Medications stopped working
Physical health declined
Illness triggered mania
Return of traumatic nightmares and flashbacks
Winter-onset to depression
Change of seasons
Anniversary of a traumatic event
Distress from work
Marital discord
I forgot to take my medications or ran out and didn’t have money to get them.
I became homeless.
I abused substances and got off track.
I smoked pot, drank alcohol, and partied and then the psychosis symptoms started.
What resulted from the stressors?
I was admitted to inpatient mental health.
I had to get medication changes.
I had to apply for FMLA and take a leave of absence from work and college.
I couldn’t focus on college classes and dropped out.
I got suspended from school.
I had a relationship break up.
I got kicked out of my home.
I got arrested.
I got psychotic and couldn’t leave my room.
I got manic and did stuff I don’t remember.
One Thing At A Time
Participants talked of being overwhelmed by the circumstances. One helpful skill is doing only one thing at a time and staying in the present. Self-compassion focuses on today, and making appointments or plans for tomorrow, but we can only do things today. It’s best to do only one task at a time and not try to multi-task. Even people with great concentration will goof up when they try to multi-task. Multi-tasking can lead to more headaches. The Mindfulness Response reminds us to slow down, take five to ten deep breaths, and focus only on the present moment.
Mindfulness Response: Self-Perceptions and Beliefs
The Mindfulness Response uses self-compassion as part of self-esteem. Our values and personal strengths come from our perceptions and choices. With self-compassion, participants learned to accept their abilities and continue to learn and grow. Participants talked about who was supportive and helped them problem-solve any symptoms that may slow them down or get in the way.
Self-esteem includes how we value and perceive ourselves. The group discussed their own opinions, judgments, and beliefs, their mental illness symptoms, and self-confidence. Self-esteem affects moods and relationships. Participants examined internal thoughts with the group and what they liked or didn’t value in themselves. The group realized how moods could be affected by positive or negative thoughts and feelings and our actions.
The group discussed how our values and strengths can change as we learn and grow. The group embraced their struggles and pain and talked about what they learned. Participants talked about getting sober, overcoming trauma issues, realizing that they needed their medications, and telling new members how to use the suffering as a tool to become stronger. They emphasized that they did this with the help of others, not alone. The use of self-compassion helps to guide us in building our new self-esteem, and our values, and realizing our strengths.
The Mindfulness Response: Self-Esteem Needs Self-Compassion
1 Self-confidence
2 Identity
3 Belonging
4 Competence
5 Goal achievement
6 Self-compassion
Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is feeling sure of yourself and your abilities in a situation. It isn’t a value such as arrogance that you believe you are better or superior to others. It is demonstrating what you can do and finishing goals. It is an inner knowledge that you have done this before and know how to manage it again. It tells us how you’re capable of accomplishing it. Confident people feel secure and trust their judgments, rather than insecure and doubt their thoughts and decisions.
Identity
Identity is our sense of who we are within our family, friends, and community. It is our alignment or our similarities with members of social groups. It can describe our perceptions of how others may label us. Identity includes personality traits, abilities, and talents.
Identity includes our likes and dislikes, belief systems, values, or moral code. It is the things that motivate us. Our actions describe our self-image or uniqueness. People who can easily describe these aspects of their identity typically have a fairly powerful sense of who they are and what they value.
Belonging
Belonging is a sense of security. It’s the feeling of support, acceptance, and inclusion. Belonging is feeling part of a group of friends, family, clubs, or organizations. It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to the larger group and feel validated.
Competence
Competence is your ability to do or perform something well and effectively. Competence is the knowledge and skills needed to solve problems. It includes knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and the ability or motivation to complete a job.
The views of our successes and failures affect self-esteem and belonging. Our society emphasizes achieving, grades, and job reviews, and this pressure to perform and be the best can cause negative thoughts and low self-esteem.
Goal Achievement
Achieving and setting goals for each day and each week is associated with good self-esteem. It’s defining specific, smaller, and attainable goals that are realistic goals for your task or job at hand.
Self-Compassion
Self-compassion reminds us to be non-judgmental and focus on what we can do today without self-criticism. With common humanity, we learn that others struggle, not just us. We practice mindfulness to keep a clear mind and build concentration.
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