Mindfulness could be a life-saving technique for those intent on becoming free of addiction writes TONY BATES
‘I WAS waiting for the 15A the other day . . . an ambulance was whizzing by, it was absolutely chaotic . . . but I could hear the birds tweeting and I thought ‘you’re either having a nervous breakdown or a spiritual awakening . . . Jesus! Your life has done a 360, maybe it was worth all the work . . . connecting to nature in the middle of Pearse Street. Before, if I was hung-over and a bird was tweeting I’d want to kill it!”
This was how one woman captured the impact of an eight-week training course in mindfulness meditation. Awareness of the beauty of life, in the middle of rush-hour city traffic, would be an achievement for any one of us.
But after a lifetime of drug addiction, where she had deliberately numbed herself to block everything out, her experience was highly significant. She was one of 13 people who had signed up for this mindfulness course. Each one of them had battled for years with drug and alcohol addiction.
Previous treatments had enabled them to break their particular habit of substance abuse. But relapse was an ever-present threat that could destroy them. If the daily discipline of stopping and breathing mindfully could help them to “stay clean”, it was worth trying. It could literally save their lives.
This project had started out as an experiment. While there is a wealth of research evidence for the benefits of meditation practice for those suffering from recurrent depression, anxiety and chronic pain, the evidence that it can help addicts is sketchy, at best.
The staff at the Deora drug project in Dublin’s north inner city believed it had something important to offer. They asked Headstrong to run an eight-week mindfulness course and to evaluate its effectiveness.
The Deora Mindfulness Programme report describes in some detail what happened for the people who participated in this programme. It includes an explanation of mindfulness, an outline of the core elements of the course, a week-by-week account of group meetings and a careful analysis of the benefits of this training to the participants.
Mindfulness means being attentive to whatever you are doing when you are doing it. By settling your attention on whatever is happening in the present moment, you gradually calm your mind and relax your body.
With your awareness grounded in the present moment, you are less vulnerable to being drawn into negative rumination about the past or the future.
You begin to see what is actually happening in the here and now. Positive elements in your life are experienced with greater appreciation. In the stillness that develops through being present to your life, creative solutions to challenging dilemmas can emerge.
This return to the present moment requires practice. It is achieved principally by using the breath as a focus, following the in-breath for the full duration of your in-breath, and the out-breath for the full duration of your out-breath.
Yoga, relaxation and mindful walking are also incorporated in mindfulness training.
Addiction can be understood as an effort to escape the present moment and achieve an altered state of consciousness that feels tolerable.
Mindfulness training taught participants in the Deora programme a different way of dealing with pain and distress.
They learned how to stop and face their inner experience, calmly and without running away. Their reason for running was a fear that they would be overwhelmed by feelings. But they discovered that when they ran away, when they tried to suppress their negative feelings, it left them on edge, and therefore more vulnerable to addictive behaviours they had relied on in the past.
But getting to this point was a considerable challenge for many of them. Years of substance abuse had alienated them from themselves.
One man described how difficult it was for him to simply stop and be alone with himself: “I find it so hard to be with my thoughts, to be in my head, that I haven’t even been able to take a bath in years – I just can’t be alone with my thoughts, I live in yesterdays and tomorrows. I hate meditation, but I need to slow my head down . . . to get myself into today.”
This was the first study of mindfulness and addiction in Ireland. We learned a great deal about what worked and what we might do differently in the future. The group particularly enjoyed the yoga practices that were included in the course as these enabled them to channel their energies creatively. Sitting meditation needed to be introduced in brief segments, as it was such a new and frightening experience for many of them.
Recovered addicts, who practised mindfulness on a regular basis and who were trained to deliver this course, would perhaps make the best teachers for people in recovery.
My abiding memory of the course participants was the energy and the urgency they brought to each session. For this group, mindfulness training was not some esoteric lifestyle option; it was a matter of life or death. They appreciated being part of the experience; they were also very honest in their feedback as to what worked for them and what didn’t.
The changes we observed and measured in the participants were consistently positive. Our results strongly suggested that mindfulness could be both a life-saving and a life-enhancing experience for people who are intent on becoming free of addiction.
Tony Bates is founding director of Headstrong – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. The Deora Mindfulness Programme report is available by request by e-mailing info@headstrong.ie