Mindfulness based stress reduction

Information for
patients and carers

DiabetesCentre
DavidAndersonBuilding, Foresterhill

What is this leaflet for?

This leaflet explains about our course on mindfulness based stress reduction and how it could help you.

Why is reducing stress important?

Balancing the stresses and strains of everyday life and managing conditions like diabetes can be demanding. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed sometimes and to find yourself lost in thoughts about the past or worries about the future.

We know that many people with diabetes experience high levels of stress, anxiety, low mood and depression. These feelings make it even harder for people to look after themselves. During difficult times, it is also harder to make changes which would lead to improved health and overall wellbeing in the shorter and longer-term.

How could the course help me?

Mindfulness based stress reduction courses have been running for about 30 years. During this time, many research studies have found that people who take part in these courses report a range of benefits. These benefits include:

  • feeling more calm and relaxed during difficult times
  • more energy and enthusiasm
  • improved feelings of psychological wellbeing
  • reduced symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, muscular pain and those related to viral infections
  • increased ability to deal with short-term and longer-term stressful situations.

When is the course held?

The stress reduction courses runs continuously. Some courses take place during the day and some during the evening, so there is a good chance there will be one at a time to suit you. The course consists of 8 sessions each of which will last for about 2 hours. The numbers of people in each group are usually fairly small – probably between 5and 10.Occasionally, we will take people through the course individually but it is generally more helpful to be part of a group.

Where is the course held?

Usually the courses are held at the Diabetes Centre, DavidAndersonBuilding. However, we do sometimes use other venues if that suits participants better.

What does the course involve?

The course requires some commitment, simply because you will be learning new skills and that usually takes time. As well as attending the classes, we will ask people to practise various skills for about 40 minutes, each day. We will encourage you to develop your ability to:

  • use helpful coping skills day-to-day
  • feel relaxed and calm
  • face the many problems life throws at us
  • be more fully aware of the way that thoughts and feelings influence the way we behave
  • find peace of mind in difficult situations.

We will help you to try a variety of ways of developing these life skills. Generally, the emphasis will be on practising skills rather than discussing them.

How do I register?

If you would like to come along to our mindfulness based stress reduction course, please contact Shona Robertson or Pamela Souter(see contact details below). They will arrange an appointment with you to meet with Dr Kirsty MacLennan, clinical psychologist, who runs the course. At that meeting, she will discuss the course more fullywith you and answer any questions that you have.

Further information

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this course then please make a time to meet Dr Kirsty MacLennan by calling:

Shona RobertsonPamela Souter

SecretarySecretary

(01224) 558075  (01224) 558121

Alternatively, you can email Kirsty at

Useful sources of information

On the Internet

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

Website:

Centre For Mindfulness Research And Practice

Website:

Mental Health Foundation

Website:

University of MassachusettsMedicalSchool

Website:

Please note that NHS Grampian is not responsible or liable for the quality of the information, resources or maintenance of external websites. Any advice on external websites is not intended to replace a consultation with an appropriately qualified medical practitioner

Books

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

This is widely available. Online retailers (such as Amazon) sell copies from about £13.

The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn

This is also widely available and online retailers charge about £10 for this book.

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This leaflet is also available in large print.

Other formats and languages can be supplied on request. Please call Quality Development on (01224)554149 for a copy. Ask for leaflet1229.

Feedback from the public helped us to develop this leaflet. Ifyou have any comments on how we can improve it, please call (01224) 554149 to let usknow.