Conventional treatments for mood disorders primarily focus on reducing negative affect, but little on enhancing positive affect. Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is a traditional meditation practice directly oriented toward enhancing unconditional and positive emotional states of kindness towards oneself and others. We report here two independent and uncontrolled studies carried out at different centers, one in Boston, USA (n = 10), and one in Frankfurt, Germany (n = 8), to examine the potential therapeutic utility of a brief LKM group intervention for symptoms of dysthymia and depression. Results at both centers suggest that LKM was associated with large-sized effects on self-reported symptoms of depression (d = 3.33 and 1.90), negative affect (d = 1.98 and 0.92), and positive affect (d = 1.63 and 0.94). Large effects were also found for clinician-reported changes in depression, rumination and specific positive emotions, and moderate effects for changes in adaptive emotion regulation strategies. The qualitative data analyses provide additional support for the potential clinical utility of the intervention. This proof-of-concept evaluation of LKM as a clinical strategy warrants further investigation.

In this pilot study, N = 11 patients suffering from chronic depression were treated in a 12-week group program consisting of basic mindfulness exercises from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and compassion exercises from Compassion Focused Therapy and Loving Kindness Meditation. In a 3-month waiting period prior to treatment, depression symptoms both in self-report and clinician rating did not change significantly. After treatment, depression severity was significantly reduced. After a 3-month follow-up, the symptoms further improved, with almost large effect sizes being observed in primary outcome measures.Changes in emotion regulation styles reflected by a significant increase in acceptance and significant decrease in suppression of emotions were observed at follow-up. Rumination about oneself was also significantly reduced at follow-up. Compassionate love and mindfulness were increased at follow-up, no effects were found on the Self-Compassion Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Given further confirming studies for this approach, it might improve treatment options for patients suffering from chronic depression.

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RESUMO:O objetivo deste artigo é analisar e sintetizar as informações disponibilizadas pelos estudos relevantes publicados sobre as principais práticas que estimulam a motricidade e a saúde mental dos idosos. Trata-se de uma revisão de literatura realizada com artigos indexados nas bases de dados Lilacs, Scielo, PubMed, Web of Science e Science Direct. São muitos os benefícios das atividades físicas para manutenção da mobilidade, motricidade e saúde mental dos idosos, podendo ser consideradas estratégias importantes para a promoção da saúde. Dentre as principais atividades, destacam-se na literatura o treinamento funcional, os exercícios aquáticos, a dança, as atividades nas academias da terceira idade, os exercícios físicos resistidos, a caminhada e a yoga. Nesse sentido, faz-se necessária a criação de mais espaços e maior acessibilidade aos idosos para as práticas que promovam a saúde no contexto da interdisciplinaridade, estimulando e preservando a capacidade funcional e cognitiva dessa população. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:Atividade motora; Cognição; Envelhecimento; Promoção da saúde. PROMOTION THE MOTRICIT y AND MENTAL HEALTH IN THE ELDERLy: A REVIEw Of THE LITERATURE ABSTRACT:This study aims to analyze and summarize the information available on relevant studies published about main practices that stimulate the kinetics and mental health of elderly. This is a literature review carried out with papers indexed in the databases Lilacs, Scielo, PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct. The studies indicated that there are many benefits of physical activities to maintain the mobility, kinetics and mental health of the elderly, and they can be considered important strategies for health promotion. The main activities include functional training, water exercises, dance, elderly gym, resistive physical exercises, walking, and yoga. Thus, it is necessary to create more spaces and accessibility for elderly for practices that promote health of this population in the context of inter-disciplinarity, stimulating and preserving the functional and cognitive capacities.