Roger Walsh

Lifestyle and mental health.

Mental health professionals have significantly underestimated the importance of lifestyle factors (a) as contributors to and treatments for multiple psychopathologies, (b) for fostering individual and social well-being, and (c) for preserving and optimizing cognitive function. Consequently, therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLCs) are underutilized despite considerable evidence of their effectiveness in both clinical and normal populations. TLCs are sometimes as effective as either psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy and can offer significant therapeutic advantages. Important TLCs include exercise, nutrition and diet, time in nature, relationships, recreation, relaxation and stress management, religious or spiritual involvement, and service to others. This article reviews research on their effects and effectiveness; the principles, advantages, and challenges involved in implementing them; and the forces (economic, institutional, and professional) hindering their use. Where possible, therapeutic recommendations are distilled into easily communicable principles, because such ease of communication strongly influences whether therapists recommend and patients adopt interventions. Finally, the article explores the many implications of contemporary lifestyles and TLCs for individuals, society, and health professionals. In the 21st century, therapeutic lifestyles may need to be a central focus of mental, medical, and public health.

Phenomenology and Sequelae of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine Use

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been at the center of a debate over its potential benefits as an adjunct to psychotherapy versus its capability for neurotoxic effects and is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). However, as yet, there is very little methodological data on the subjective experience of the MDMA-induced state or its psychological and behavioral sequelae. The present study was, therefore, designed to obtain this kind of information. Twenty psychiatrists who had taken MDMA previously were evaluated using a semistructured interview. Subjective experience of the actual MDMA-induced state, as well as both short-term (<1 week) and relatively longer term (>1 week) sequelae, were examined retrospectively. Side effects, insight gained, pleasure, and intensity of the MDMA experience were evaluated as were the influence of set and setting at the time the MDMA was taken and the dosage utilized. Finally, the authors discuss methodological problems and limitations of a study of this type.

An analysis of recent meditation research and suggestions for future directions

Abstract Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have demonstrated numerous significant findings including changes in psychological, physiological, and transpersonal realms. This paper attempts to summarize these findings, and to review more recent meditation research. We then suggest directions for future research, emphasizing the necessity to continue to expand the paradigm from which meditation research is conducted, from a predominantly re‐ductionistic, biomedical model to one which includes subjective and transpersonal domains and an integral perspective.

Effects of Environmental Complexity and Deprivation on Brain Anatomy and Histology: A Review

During the last 20 years the anatomical plasticity of the brain in response to sensory stimulation has been clearly demonstrated. This paper reviews the effects of environments rich in sensory stimulation versus those which are stimulus poor. Effects have been noted at all levels from the gross anatomical to the electromicroscopic. As compared to their stimulus-deprived counterparts, animals reared in complex environments tend to display greater cerebral weight and length and cortical depth. The greatest effects occur in the occipital cortex where histological studies have revealed expanded neuron perikaryonal and nuclear size and dendritic branching, more dendritic spines, alterations in synaptic numbers and morphology, and greater numbers of neuroglia. Different cortical areas and layers respond to different degrees. Some responses have also been noted in the underlying hippocampus, particularly in the dentate gyrus. The emerging data present a picture of a dynamic, plastic brain adapting homeostatically to the demands of its environment.

The Search for Synthesis Transpersonal Psychology and the Meeting of East and West, Psychology and Religion, Personal and Transpersonal

The article outlines reasons why the field of transpersonal psychology arose and some of its current theoretical and experimental frontiers. These frontiers include full-spectrum models of development that encompass transconventional stages, possible integrations among different psychological schools, new understandings of contemplative practices and altered states of consciousness, and research on meditation. Finally, some of the current limitations and problems of transpersonal psychology are examined.

Meditation Practice and Research

This article provides an introduction and overview of meditation practice, theory, and research. The models of human nature and consciousness from the meditative traditions are compared with traditional Western psychological models, and the former are suggested to encompass a wider range of states of consciousness and psychological well-being. The various models and mechanisms, psychological and physiological, Eastern and Western, that have been advanced to account for the effects of meditation are reviewed. Meditation practice is discussed both as a self-regulation strategy for specific psychotherapeutic and psychophysiological aims and as a discipline for deep self-exploration and transformation. When used for intensive self-exploration, meditation is best viewed as one component of a process demanding and producing a thoroughgoing transformation of all aspects of life and thought. The progression of experiences, insights, and states of consciousness that tend to emerge with intensive insight meditation are descibed, as are the authors initial experiences. The research literature on the effects and therapeutic applications of meditation is reviewed. We know the outer world of sensations and actions, but our inner world of thoughts and feelings we know very little. The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of and familiar with our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness. Skill in meditation affects deeply our character. We are slaves to what we do not know; of what we know we are masters. Whatever vice or weakness in ourselves we discover and understand its courses and its workings, we overcome it by the very knowing; the unconscious dissolves when brought into the conscious [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1973, p. 15].

Changes in Hippocampal Neuronal Nuclei in Response to Environmental Stimulation

The diameter of cortical neuronal nuclei has been reported to increase when animals are reared in enriched, as opposed to deprived, sensory environments. The present study investigated whether analogous neuronal changes occur in the hippocampus. Male Wistar rats were reared in either an enriched or a deprived environment for 80 days after weaning. At the completion of this rearing period both brain weights and hippocampal neuronal nuclear diameters were measured. The enriched subjects exhibited a greater forebrain:hindbrain ratio (3.7% p less than 0.05) when compared to the isolated subjects. No significant differences in mean hippocampal nuclear dimensions could be detected but variability in nuclear size was greater in the stratum granulosum of the isolated subjects (p less than 0.01). It is proposed that this increased variability reflects an environmentally restricted development of these neurons.

Shamanic Experiences: A Developmental Analysis

The nature of the experiences induced by shamans has long been a topic of considerable controversy. The experiences occurring during one of the major shamanic techniques, the shamanic journey, have been described in terms of various psychopathologies or as identical to the transcendent experiences of Buddhism and yoga. Despite such claims, careful analysis reveals that shamanic journey experiences are distinct on several phenomenological dimensions. This article uses developmental analyses to assess whether shamanic experiences represent experiences at similar or different developmental stages as yogic and Buddhist experiences, and concludes that although there is some overlap, there are also significant differences. The article then turns to current theories about the evolution of human consciousness. Different views of evolution are summarized, the possible evolution of transpersonal techniques and experiences is outlined, and the possible place of shamanic practitioners in this scheme is suggested.

Critical Analysis of the Efficacy of Meditation Therapies for Acute and Subacute Phase Treatment of Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND Recently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, owing to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, and theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the state of the evidence supporting this application. METHODS Randomized controlled trials of techniques meeting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality definition of meditation, for participants having clinically diagnosed depressive disorders, not currently in remission, were selected. Meditation therapies were separated into praxis (i.e., how they were applied) components, and trial outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS 18 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified, encompassing 7 distinct techniques and 1173 patients. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy comprised the largest proportion of studies. Studies including patients having acute major depressive episodes (n = 10 studies), and those with residual subacute clinical symptoms despite initial treatment (n = 8), demonstrated moderate to large reductions in depression symptoms within the group, and relative to control groups. There was significant heterogeneity of techniques and trial designs. CONCLUSIONS A substantial body of evidence indicates that meditation therapies may have salutary effects on patients having clinical depressive disorders during the acute and subacute phases of treatment. Owing to methodologic deficiencies and trial heterogeneity, large-scale, randomized controlled trials with well-described comparator interventions and measures of expectation are needed to clarify the role of meditation in the depression treatment armamentarium.

Subjective effects of antidepressants: a pilot study of the varieties of antidepressant-induced experiences in meditators.

The use of antidepressants continues to increase, yet relatively little is known about their precise subjective effects, and there is growing concern about subtle psychological side effects. One novel investigative approach to these problems may be to use introspectively trained subjects such as meditators. Experienced meditators recently taking antidepressants rated antidepressant effects on multiple dimensions of experience and reported significant emotional, motivational, and cognitive effects and benefits. This study suggests that a) meditators may benefit both clinically and meditatively from antidepressants, b) meditators may provide significant novel information on antidepressant effects, c) meditators may prove valuable for phenomenological investigations of psychopathology, drug effects, and therapies, d) meditation may prove a helpful maintenance therapy for depression, and e) enhanced equanimity may contribute to the broad therapeutic efficacy of antidepressants.