the chronicPracticing meditation and mindfulness may have health benefits that can be useful in managing endometriosis-related symptoms. Those with endometriosis often suffer from chronic pain and stress due to living with a chronic illness. This intense burden can lead to depression and anxiety, which can be hard to manage. Learning to manage stress and symptoms of depression can result in less distress and physical pain. In research, a positive association between coping, depression levels, type, and levels of stress and pain intensity in patients with endometriosis has been shown. Finding positive coping mechanisms results in a better adaptation to stress and less depression.
Endometriosis patients who used maladaptive coping strategies to cope were found to have an increase in depression and stress. Meditation and mindfulness may be a positive coping mechanism option for patients. Meditation is a practice in which attention and awareness is trained to achieve mental clarity, emotional calm, and a stable state. Mindfulness is a technique used during meditation. It is defined as focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve pain and quality of life, as well as reduce depression and anxiety. Meditation may positively affect the immune system in various ways including meditation on specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging, but these are only tentative findings.
It has been suggested that in the same way that the cerebellum regulates the rate, force, rhythm, and accuracy of movements, it also regulates the speed, capacity, consistency, and appropriateness of cognitive and emotional processes, i.e., it modulates behavior automatically around a homeostatic baseline. Given the importance that the regulation of emotions and cognition play in healthy psychological functioning, the morphological changes in these regions might contribute to the positive effects of mindfulness meditation on the salutary changes in well-being.- Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density
Meditation techniques have been shown to increase gray matter density in several areas of the brain which can help regulate emotions and aid in learning and problem solving. The hippocampus is one of the positively affected areas, which may improve function in regulating emotional responses. Other areas of the brain include the posterior cingulate cortex, the left temporo-parietal junction, and the cerebellum. The cerebellum is known to play a role in the regulation of emotion and cognition. It’s thought that the morphological changes to these brain regions may contribute to the benefits of mindfulness meditation. Being equipped with a better ability to emotionally and cognitively process your experience can help in disease management, stress reduction, and less physical pain.
Nevertheless, endometriosis is certainly ‘not in your head’ – though a number of sources have indicated over the years that endometriosis is caused by 'negative emotions' and various deep-seated psychological components. While there are various social, psychological, and emotional aspects to any painful, chronic illness such as endometriosis, these are consequences of the disease, not the cause. The highly offensive contention that endometriosis is a psychological ailment due to one’s internal failings or otherwise rooted in emotions leads only to further delayed diagnosis and ineffective treatment of the disease, and should be denounced wherever such claims appear.
Due to prevalent misinformation, social stigma, and gender bias, endometriosis-related symptoms have been incorrectly labeled as hysteria or as having a psychosomatic origin. Again and again, these antiquated notions are disproven by studies that show the various and complex molecular mechanisms involved in endometriosis. Social, psychological, and emotional changes are seen in those with endometriosis, but these are the result of, not the cause of the disease. Such claims are dangerous for patients and can further delay diagnosis and result in ineffective treatment. Combining meditation and mindfulness with medical treatment may address these cognitive and emotional aspects of the disease.
Resources
For additional information on meditation and mindfulness, explore the following resources:
- Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis found a reduction in pain and depressive symptoms in patients.
- Mind-Body Practices for Endometriosis provides several examples of practices and how they may help symptoms.
- Mindfulness: Manage Your Endometriosis Symptoms looks at the benefits of meditation for pain and endometriosis-related symptoms.