27 Apr CAN STUDENTS USE HEADSPACE TO MEDITATE THROUGH MENTAL HEALTH?
Students have revealed the reasons behind using Headspace as a substitute for traditional methods, but with all this popularity is Headspace a truly legitimate alternative.
Students are turning to Headspace rather than seeking a licensed therapist or doctor. The accessibility of smartphones has shaped the way many approaches mental health, the comfort of staying within your own home has enabled a do-it-yourself outlook that is starting to outweigh professional traditions.
Countless students are trying to meditate their way through mental health. Three students were interviewed to see how they cope with mental health challenges, all students expressed the view that they used Headspace to deal with anxiety and stress, rather than seeking medical advice. Kehinde, 22, a third-year Journalism student expressed “The idea of talking to a doctor about what I was going through was daunting. I remembered hearing about Headspace and all the benefits, so I downloaded the app instead”.
Many students are suffering from mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression. According to The Mental Health Foundation, 19.7% of people in the UK aged 16 and over showed symptoms of anxiety and depression. Many elements contribute to this high percentage such as workload, relationships and employment. YouGov conducted a survey that discovered, 1 out of 4 students suffers from mental health problems. A quarter of students (27%) reported having a mental health problem, and the number of students arriving at university with a mental health condition is now five times more than it was ten years ago. This has led students to drop out of university and even commit suicide. The Higher Education Statistics Agency recorded 20,295 dropouts in the UK between 2017-2018.
The majority of the interview responses established that Headspace was the perfect alternative due to lack of time and accessibility. “I just couldn’t go through the hassle of booking and attending an appointment, when on some days I was struggling to get out of bed” Kehinde may have a point, on the NHS you can be expected to wait for up to 18 weeks before you can speak to a therapist.
Students in the UK use the app to seek answers from minor to major mental health issues. The convenience of having a portable relaxation application within minutes away can deter one from speaking to a doctor or a licensed professional. Incorporating smartphone mindfulness and meditation into a student’s daily routine can be extremely significant, but can it become detrimental when it replaces the genesis of tackling mental health issues, therapy.
The Independent reported Headspace as one of the best-known meditation apps when it comes to the improvement and change in mental wellbeing. It claims to have more than sixty million members worldwide, it is currently unknown what percentage are students as this information has never been disclosed by Headspace. However, Headspace may have seen a growth in students since the Coronavirus outbreak, as it has offered free use of the application for the National Health Service staff and medical students. “Before the outbreak, I did not know what Headspace was, but this pandemic has brought unprecedented times. When I downloaded the app, I noticed some of my other colleagues did too” Nife Oyebajo, a placement nurse at Medway Maritime Hospital.
It has been proven that mindfulness and meditation have many benefits. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends mindfulness as a way to prevent depression in people who have had depression in the past. Forbes, says it is a way to change the “makeup and wiring of our brains”. Dr Kyrillos Adesina-Georgiadis, St George’s Hospital, expresses how effective mindfulness can be “Mindfulness as a treatment focus has been the subject of much research in recent years, especially in major depressive disorder. One of the issues within the treatment of depression with anti-depressives is the risk of recurrence after the end of the treatment. Some psychiatrists have developed a new type of therapy called Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. It applies the principles of mindfulness to long term management of patients and was shown to be superior long term in preventing depressive relapse. The evolution of this is that this type of therapy can be delivered electronically over the internet”
Headspace claims with the help of mindfulness and meditation, it can change a person’s mental state in 10 days. Headspace has conducted numerous studies to support its “10 days” recovery period. In one of the studies within 10 days of using the app, there was an improvement in self-compassion. However, there’re some noticeable flaws in the research. The study compares the traditionally delivered mindfulness intervention to Headspace. Yet, it is not specified what techniques are used, so we are not able to measure whether it is equivalent to Headspace’s technique. Also, in the research, it does not state that any of the subjects felt a significant increase particularly in self-compassion, but in ‘acting more aware’. Although the research does indicate that subjects who suffered from severe illness may require alternative methods.
25 published studies show the impact of Headspace, they’re all are accessible through their website. Yet, the majority of the research focuses on mindfulness and mediation smartphone applications and not the specifications of Headspace.
Jessica, a 23-year-old London based student explained to me why she prefers using Headspace “I see it as doing therapy within the comfort of my own home. I get to know myself, my body and more importantly my thoughts and the process behind it. I feel safe and protected and it is very important for me to feel this way”
Jessica has been using Headspace since the age of 20 when she discovered she was suffering from anxiety. At the time, she decided to move away from home and go to a university outside of London, this is where she encountered her first few struggles. “It all started great; I was living away from home with more responsibilities. Freedom quickly became sour for me as I started to worry about everything, from deadlines to paying my bills and making friends” Jessica explained how mental health can take over your life “I couldn’t do anything, I never ate, the longest I went without eating was 10 days. I just didn’t have an appetite, then I started sleeping for a maximum of 1-2 hours a day. I was a shadow of myself.” Jessica disclosed her breaking point “I finally decided to leave the house to go to class after 14 days of being inside. Being outside all became too much for me, this was the day that I had a panic attack in the middle of my lecture hall” One of her fellow students alerted a member of staff who then transferred her see a university counsellor where she started cognitive-based therapy. Cognitive-based therapy is a type of talk-based therapy, this form of intervention aims to identify maladaptive thought processes and replace them with more positive thoughts.
“Attending therapy was very difficult for me. I attended for about 8 weeks before I stopped going. At the time, we discussed my attendance, my counsellor was very understanding but always reminded me attendance was required” To Jessica, it was clear that this form of therapy was not working for her. “Shortly afterwards, I discovered Headspace, at first it was difficult to build a habit of concentrating while I was meditating, but I eventually did. Listening to my damaging thoughts and acknowledging they were separate to me, really helped me” Cognitive-based therapy focuses on behavioural change while mindfulness emphasises acceptance. At the time, Jessica’s university did not offer her video therapy sessions or any online sessions, this may have helped her overcome her attendance issues.
The debatable question, is Headspace a legitimate alternative for therapy? How has modernity shaped our ability to deal with mental struggles, “The possibility of technology replacing aspects of healthcare has been a controversial conversation for many years. There is a place for Headspace within the treatment of psychiatric conditions, especially in the self-guided treatment of mild to moderate depression, and also for the mental wellbeing of students. However, it would be difficult for the app to be the sole modality of treatment in mental health disorders” says Dr Kyrillos Adesina-Georgiadis, St George’s Hospital.
Interview with Headspace’s press team was not available due to the Coronavirus pandemic. A member of the team was to confirm the number of students who use the app in the UK, whether there has been significant growth since the pandemic, whether Headspace is a legitimate alternative for therapy? Also, their opinion on students using Headspace instead of consulting a professional, the flaws in their 10-days recovery period and why they believe students resonate so much with the app.
Due to her experience, Jessica truly believes Headspace is all she needs “Using the app helped me master new healthy habits that I needed to function. I meditate every morning when I receive my notification and afterwards, I go about my day” The rise in Headspace displays the drastic changes technology has created and that mental health solutions are constantly being developed. Maybe, this is only convenient for Jessica at the moment or maybe this will be a method she will always use.
