Research suggests that school-based mindfulness programs can help students manage stress, but do not significantly reduce student mental health problems.
I would like to share feelings from my personal experience. In 2022 (right before I came to OISE), I obtained a certificate in hypnosis from U of T School of Continuing Studies. While I used mindfulness practices, it felt like a combination of heightened self-awareness and mental painkillers, but it did not solve any of my problems. In contrast, physical activities between one and two hours immensely helped me.
I completely agree that mental challenges and underlying causes require professional help. Mindfulness has its value, and it might be more helpful after physical exercises to calm the mind and help students refocus on cognitive work. More research is needed to confirm the effect of the exercise -> mindfulness strategy.
Thanks for sharing this, Linyi. I was having similar thoughts. I find exercise to be extremely therapeutic. It's interesting that Study #2 found no benefits of mindfulness over yoga for reducing stress. I suspect other forms of physical activity could have similar benefits.
Why aren't there proper reasons in the study explaining why school-based mental health programs failed? What programs or components can schools add to ensure the success of these programs in the near future?
That's a great question. My guess is that increases in student mental health problems are putting stress on schools. This may, in part, account for the growing educational popularity of such things as "mindfulness" and "trauma-informed pedagogies". I suspect what schools need more than anything else is more resources in the form of social workers and additional dedicated hours for Mental Health Nurses.
Thanks for engaging with the article Ammar. You ask such a valid question. It's not that the programs "failed". Some studies did show that these programs could help with managing stress but they couldn't work alone in reducing mental illnesses such as depression. As the article points to, these conditions are a result of a range of issues like poverty, inequities and more. Therefore, such interventions alone can't help address the issue of declining mental health. These interventions may be a part of the puzzle but children living with mental health conditions require more professional care among other support. So perhaps a more integrated program with professional care might be needed. What do you think? Declining mental health among children and adolescents is a matter of concern for sure.
Thank you for providing this post, Jim and Nidhi!
I would like to share feelings from my personal experience. In 2022 (right before I came to OISE), I obtained a certificate in hypnosis from U of T School of Continuing Studies. While I used mindfulness practices, it felt like a combination of heightened self-awareness and mental painkillers, but it did not solve any of my problems. In contrast, physical activities between one and two hours immensely helped me.
I completely agree that mental challenges and underlying causes require professional help. Mindfulness has its value, and it might be more helpful after physical exercises to calm the mind and help students refocus on cognitive work. More research is needed to confirm the effect of the exercise -> mindfulness strategy.
Thanks for sharing this, Linyi. I was having similar thoughts. I find exercise to be extremely therapeutic. It's interesting that Study #2 found no benefits of mindfulness over yoga for reducing stress. I suspect other forms of physical activity could have similar benefits.
Why aren't there proper reasons in the study explaining why school-based mental health programs failed? What programs or components can schools add to ensure the success of these programs in the near future?
That's a great question. My guess is that increases in student mental health problems are putting stress on schools. This may, in part, account for the growing educational popularity of such things as "mindfulness" and "trauma-informed pedagogies". I suspect what schools need more than anything else is more resources in the form of social workers and additional dedicated hours for Mental Health Nurses.
Thanks for engaging with the article Ammar. You ask such a valid question. It's not that the programs "failed". Some studies did show that these programs could help with managing stress but they couldn't work alone in reducing mental illnesses such as depression. As the article points to, these conditions are a result of a range of issues like poverty, inequities and more. Therefore, such interventions alone can't help address the issue of declining mental health. These interventions may be a part of the puzzle but children living with mental health conditions require more professional care among other support. So perhaps a more integrated program with professional care might be needed. What do you think? Declining mental health among children and adolescents is a matter of concern for sure.