Ever felt stressed or anxious about the Covid-19 pandemic? Imagine there was a technique reducing many of those bad symptoms!

Don’t worry, you are not alone! Many researchers from around the world so far have shown that our mental health is seriously impacted in times of pandemic.

Researchers from China in their very recent study examined participants’ depression, anxiety and stress symptoms at the peak of the pandemic in China. Researchers investigated whether guided mindfulness practice through a 3 weeks period could improve the symptoms.

Results have shown that people who already practiced mindfulness at the beginning of the study experienced less distress related to pandemic than people who did not. Young people reported generally more symptoms than older people and young practitioners’ symptoms also significantly decreased through 3 weeks of study. In addition, participants of a guided mindfulness training experiment who were practicing more frequently during the 3 weeks had fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress! Therefore, mindfulness actually was proven to have protective effects on mental health in pandemic. It is not really surprising because mindfulness-based interventions were previously shown to be useful in treating depression or anxiety and as we can see, it could help you deal with the stress in the pandemic as well.

Then don’t hesitate, give it a try and explore the topic! There are plenty of guided practices available, eg. on popular streaming services, like YouTube. Just remember, go see a specialist if you’re really struggling with your symptoms.

Reference:
Zhu, J. L., Schülke, R., Vatansever, D., Xi, D., Yan, J., Zhao, H., … & Wang, S. (2021). Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Translational psychiatry, 11(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01459-8.