Mindfulness
is increasingly being utilized as a therapeutic modality for soldiers returning home from combat.
However,
new research from the University of Miami suggests that mindfulness may be just
as useful, if not more useful, before
soldiers are deployed to conflict zones. Staying focused in the
present moment, along with cognitive resilience, is what mindfulness is all
about, and that is an essential skill for all of us including soldiers.
‘Soldiers
are experts at standing at attention,’ Miami neuroscientist Dr Amishi Jha [pictured left], the study's lead author, said in a statement. ‘However, maintaining a mind at
attention under the intense physical, emotional and cognitive demands they
face, is a more difficult task.’
In the
study 75 soldiers stationed in Hawaii, who were all 8 to 10 months away from
being deployed to Afghanistan, underwent a mindfulness training ('MT') program
after which their attention and cognitive performance were tested using the
Sustained Attention to Response Task ('SART'), a test that measures attentional
lapses and mind-wandering. The data showed MT during pre-deployment,
completed in just 8 hours over the course of 8 weeks, to be effective in
preventing mind-wandering and attentional lapses.
While previous studies by the same researchers showed 24
hours of mindfulness training to lead to improvements in mood and cognitive
function, the new study is the first to suggest that a much shorter training
period could still yield significant improvements.
‘With
the continued deployment of our soldiers to face complex threats around the
world, these results are a critical addition to our ever-evolving readiness and
resiliency toolkit,’ Deputy Commanding General of
the US Army in Europe Major General Walter Piatt said in a statement. ‘Ensuring our men and women are both
mentally and physically prepared is essential to mission success,’ he said. ‘This
study provides important information to help us do that.’
Resource: Jha A P, Morrison A B, Dainer-Best J, Parker S, Rostrup N, and Stanley E A. ‘Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness Training Curbs Attentional Lapses in Military Cohorts.’ PLOS ONE. Published: February 11, 2015. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116889.
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