Life is like a mirror. If you smile at it, it will also smile at you. Only by being kind to yourself and every day can you have a happy life. Mental diseases such as anxiety and depression have come quietly. In recent years, the development has become faster and faster, people are under more and more pressure at work and life, and more and more people suffer from mental illness. On October 9, 2020, the day before World Mental Health Day, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the press conference that the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the mental health of millions of people. At present, nearly 1 billion people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, and one person dies of suicide every 40 seconds. However, only a few people worldwide have access to high-quality mental health services. Among all kinds of mental diseases, depression is the most well-known. At present, there are about 350 million cases worldwide. According to the 2019 data, the prevalence rate of depression in China reached 2.1%, the prevalence rate of anxiety disorders was nearly 5%, and the prevalence rate of the two diseases was close to 7%. For most people, depression is a response to disaster or adversity in life. When we feel abandoned by the people around us, when we lose something important and are humiliated and hit, depression comes quietly.

In real life, anxiety and depression often occur with each other, with a series of emotional manifestations such as melancholy sadness, low mood, tension and irritability, accompanied by fatigue, sleep disorders, loss of appetite, cardiopulmonary and gastrointestinal discomfort. How should we get rid of anxiety and depression, and how to manage negative thoughts and emotions?

Try mindfulness and experience the taste of every bite.

A well-known travel writer was invited to a prominent Japanese family banquet, where there will be an extremely exquisite dish – river pork. Because river pork has toxins, only skilled chefs can completely eliminate toxins. Therefore, providing this kind of fish as a dish is a very kind of hospitality. The writer took the plate with river pork with great expectation and tasted every bite of food with great expectation. This kind of deliciousness is really not like anything he has ever eaten. He is deeply fascinated by the exquisite taste of river pork. At this moment, the host suddenly announced that the fish the writer tasted was just an ordinary fish, and the other guest ate pufferfish. This experience made the writer realise an “important thing”, that is, not how delicious this rare and expensive food is, but if you carefully experience the taste of every bite, even ordinary food will be excellent. When the writer tastes an ordinary piece of fish, he is actually maintaining a state of awareness, that is, consciously and wholeheartedly paying attention to and realising everything in the present with “zheng nian”. The concept of “fulness” originated from Buddhist meditation. It was developed from meditation, meditation, enlightenment, etc., and later developed into a systematic psychotherapy – mindfulness therapy.

Mindfulness therapy is a general term for various psychotherapy with mindfulness as the core, including mindfulness stress reduction therapy, mindfulness cognitive therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Mindfulness therapy plays a significant role in improving the emotional adjustment ability of individuals. It is a kind of psychological treatment that is widely recognised internationally at present. What exactly is mindfulness? The effect of mindfulness in regulating emotions? Joe of the University of Massachusetts, one of the pioneers of introducing mindfulness to Europe and the United States. Professor Kabarkin defines mindfulness as: Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present mom Ent, and non-judgmentally. Mindfulness is conscious awareness, focussing on the present moment, without adding subjective judgement (the three elements of mindfulness: conscious awareness; focussing on the present; not subjective judgement). There are three attitudes of mindfulness: original intention, trust, and let go (each moment is unique; respect your feelings and become a better self; let nature take its course and accept itself). What role does mindfulness play in emotional management?

First of all, mindfulness itself is closely related to emotions. Research shows that mindfulness is related to negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression and depression; positive emotions, such as subjective happiness, self-esteem, etc. Research on the relationship between mindfulness and examination shows that mindfulness can not only directly regulate emotions, but also indirectly regulate emotions by improving emotions and regulating self-efficacy, thus relieving exam anxiety. The theory of Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness-based intervention mechanism is that the cultivation of mindfulness triggers the adjustment process, thus optimising psychological function and reducing psychological pain.

In recent years, mindfulness therapy has been more and more widely used in the adjuvant treatment of various mental and chronic diseases, and has achieved satisfactory results. For example, long-term sleep disorders can not only cause anxiety and depression, but also lead to decreased growth hormone secretion in the anterior pituitary, neurasthenia, etc., resulting in physiological and psychological functions and inert state. Mindfulness decompression treatment can significantly improve the sleep quality and quality of life of patients with sleep disorders and reduce bad emotions. Research by Wu Bo and others shows that mindfulness therapy can relieve the pain level of patients with chronic pain, reduce their anxiety and depression, promote physical and mental health and improve the quality of life. Research by Yang Haihong and others reveals that Decompression therapy can stabilise the blood pressure level of patients with coronary heart disease and hypertension, reduce the negative mood of patients, improve sleep quality, and reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular time. In addition, mindfulness therapy has a positive intervention effect in improving the anxiety, depression, sleep quality and inflammatory biomarkers of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and systemic lupus erythematosus.

“Emotions are not our enemies, they are just messengers of information.” Resisting depression will only make us more depressed. In our daily work and life, when we encounter some setbacks, we should learn to face the current situation, learn to talk with our emotions, and jump out of the emotional dilemma through mindfulness exercises such as mindfulness breathing, mindfulness walking and body scanning.