Signature of a more relaxed life: The effect of mental training can be demonstrated by a decrease in the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair, researchers report. So far, the evidence of positive effects of these practices has been rather subjective or selective. The physiological verification process, however, provides objective and long-term evidence that people can improve their stress level, which is often harmful to health, through regular meditation training.
Excessive demands in work and private life, fears, loneliness …: The causes of chronic stress are diverse and, as is well known, personal susceptibility is very different. Those affected suffer in a complex way: They not only lose quality of life, but also have to reckon with health consequences. Because constant stress can lead to psychological disorders such as burnout and depression and significantly increase the risk of various physical illnesses, studies show. Ways to relieve stress are therefore in demand. Eliminating the triggers is not always possible – but something can be done from within, they say: Mental training is a tried and tested method – various meditation and behavioral exercises that strengthen cognitive and social skills such as attention, gratitude and compassion will.
Objective verification process
In addition to personal experience, studies have already shown that people feel less stressed after a typical eight-week training program. But so far, the evidence has been rather subjective: the study participants usually assessed their stress level after the training with the help of questionnaires. This can lead to distortions due to factors such as social desirability and placebo effects, explain the researchers working with Lara Puhlmann from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig (MPI CBS). “Participants know that they are taking the ‘antidote’, which can affect their perception. In mindfulness research, we are therefore increasingly using more objective, i.e. physiological methods in order to be able to measure the stress-reducing effect more precisely, ”says Puhlmann.
As part of their study, the scientists have now used the concentration of cortisol in the hair as a measure of exposure to persistent stress. This hormone mobilizes energy to cope with challenges, but can have unfavorable effects in the long term. The longer the stress persists, the longer large amounts of cortisol circulate in the body – and the more it then accumulates in hair structures. To measure the stress level of the study participants during nine months of training, the researchers analyzed the amount of cortisol every three months in the first three inches of hair. The training program consisted of Western and Far Eastern concepts of mental exercise. Three groups of around 80 participants each completed the training modules in different order. Training was carried out for up to nine months, 30 minutes a day, six days a week.
Less stress hormone exposure
The analyzes showed: After six months of training, the amount of cortisol in the hair of the test subjects had fallen by an average of 25 percent and then remained at this reduced level. The effect did not seem to depend on the respective concepts and content of the training. It is possible that several of the examined mental approaches are similarly effective in improving the handling of chronic everyday stress, say the researchers. In detail, it was shown that the training units initially had only slight effects in the first three months, which then intensified in the following three months.
As the scientists explain, this apparently shows the effect that only a sufficiently long exercise phase with the respective mental procedure leads to the desired stress-reducing effects. The study rounds off earlier results in the same test subjects, the researchers report: They examined the effects of training on dealing with acute stressful situations based on cortisol surges in saliva. For this purpose, the participants were put into a stressful conversation situation and were asked to solve difficult math problems under observation. It showed that people who have completed socio-cognitive or socio-affective training form up to 51 percent less cortisol under stress than untrained people.
The bottom line is that the team has now been able to use physiological measurements to demonstrate that mental training can have a positive effect on dealing with stress, both acutely and in the long term. “We assume that different training aspects are particularly helpful for these different forms of stress,” says co-author Veronika Engert from the MPI CBS. “There are many mental and physical illnesses around the world that are directly or indirectly related to long-term stress,” says Puhlmann. “We must therefore continue to work on counteracting the effects of chronic stress preventively,” says the scientist.
Source: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, specialist article:
Psychosomatic Medicine, doi: 10.1097 / PSY.0000000000000970