Mindfulness Or Practicality

[nailit]

I posted a bit ago about the 'Buzz Word' that was mindfulness. Mental health services are full of it, along with acupuncture and other such sh it....
WHY is all this rubbish been promoted and paid for?
People that are are ill...mentally or physically...need PRACTICAL support , not some woo.

I spent ages been taught about mindfulness(6 months in fact), having acupuncture, and other such nonsense, only to have my problems solved by practical solutions.

[gness]

Nailit...I wish you weren't so rude about acupuncture. I had a long standing and pretty debilitating problem that was sorted with just one session of acupuncture. I had been told I may need a few sessions but when I phoned the acupuncturist who was also a surgeon at Addenbrookes she cancelled all future appointments unless I ever felt I needed to see her again.
During many years of doing very firm Swedish massage I kept my hands pain free and supple by having acupuncture two or three times a year.
I now use it for any pain that age brings....I never ever have to use a pain killer.
I have only once had a problem that acupuncture didn't completely work for.

[Calicogirl]

To be honest Nailit, both are important and useful but practicality works fabulously for most things I agree. Mindfullness however has stopped me going right off my trolly over the last week or so, so got a lot of time for that also tbh. Whatever suits and works for the individual works for the individual there is no one size fits all surely and agree with Gness about acupuncture too x

[Buenchico]

The concept of 'mindfulness' is recognised as a potentially useful one within the NHS:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mindfulness/

I suspect though that you came up against health professionals who believe that a 'one size fits all' approach to mental health problems will always be effective, rather than people who're prepared to recognise that their patients are all individuals, where certain techniques will work wonders for some but which will be utterly useless for others.

[Cloverjo]

Mindfulness can help you by forcing you to think about what is happening and what you’re feeling right now, rather than letting your mind spin off into all sorts of worries.

[Mamyalynne]

Totally agree with all above - what works best for one won't necessarily help another.

Mindfulness is a useful tool to have in your personal armoury so is never a waste of time.

Glad the practical approach got you through.

[nailit]

Had an uncle who swore by acupuncture, helped his artheritic knees no end, (seriously). But that's a far cry from being a panacea, which it seems to have become, along with all this mindfulness stuff that's all the rage now. It did nothing for me then and does nothing for me now.

[nailit]

//The concept of 'mindfulness' is recognised as a potentially useful one within the NHS:/
So was smoking at one time.

[sanmac]

I have never seen nor heard that term being used in any medical context.

[Tilly2]

I don't know what 'mindfulness' is.

[gness]

You'll have difficulty, Nailit finding an acupuncturist who will agree that acupuncture is a panacea.
Acupuncture has a place. To poopoo it is senseless.

[sanmac]

I was going to look it up, Tilly; however, I don't have a mind to so I'LL dash out and buy some beer as that action would have some practicality to it:)

[nailit]

//I don't know what 'mindfulness' is.//
Meditatation by any other name Tills…

[archibaldy]

Being taught about mindfulness is not the same as practicing it and it's not meant to be a replacement for actually doing practical things but hopefully it can guide the things one does.

It helps me a lot in my job and my life, I can't imagine not being able to watch and notice my mind anymore and to a certain degree choose how I feel.

However I agree it shouldn't be equated to a painkilling drug that works for everyone, some people seem more suited to it than others.

[Tilly2]

Ah! ok, thank you, Nails.

[nailit]

gness, I don't doubt that acupuncture has its place.
But a panacea it isn't, especially when its pushed on to people with complex needs.

[woofgang]

.
There doesn’t have to be an “or” Its a rare thing that one thing alone will help, usually its a bundle of things....help to cope, practical support, medication plus other stuff too.

[gness]

Confusing me now, Nailit....you said acupuncture seems to have become a panacea?

[nailit]

Might also add homeopathy to the list of woo!
None of it helpful and all just a waste of NHS money.

[nailit]

gness, whats confusing?

[diddlydo]

I'm sick to death of hearing about this new-fangled notion of "mindfulness". An acquaintance is designing a "mindfulness" garden - what the f***???