Self-Compassion Can Reduce Mental Ill-Health by 80 Percent, Study Finds
Refugees who practiced self-compassion were found to experience significantly less depression and anxiety than those who did not, in a study by scientists at the University of California (UC), San Diego.
Among a group of 272 displaced Syrian refugees living in Jordan, the majority experienced anxiety, emotional distress or depression—but self-compassion was linked with an 80 percent reduction in symptoms.
Conflict arose in Syria after pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011 escalated into civil war, sparking the formation of hundreds of rebel groups across the country.
Foreign powers including the U.S. and Russia, and extremist jihadist organizations such as Islamic State and al-Qaida, all became involved, and the conflict has been ongoing ever since. Casualty estimates vary from 300,000 to 500,000 people.
"Refugees are the most vulnerable to trauma and associated mental illnesses and have low access to mental health care," senior author Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy, professor of public health at UC San Diego, told Newsweek.
"Therefore, self-compassion is an innovative and practical approach for these populations."
Researchers surveyed the study's participants about their trauma, mental-health symptoms and levels of self-compassion and resilience.
Self-compassion was framed as something participants "did" rather than "felt." It could involve practicing kindness and tenderness towards themselves when going through a difficult time.
Alternatively, self-compassion could include engaging in non-judgmental mindfulness towards painful thoughts, or recognizing that they were not alone, but part of a larger human experience.
"There are training sessions on how to practice self-compassion and mindfulness that have been shown to be effective in the general population, but yet to be explored in these vulnerable international populations," said Al-Delaimy.
The scientists found high levels of poor mental health among the refugees. Emotional distress affected 84.6 percent of them, depression 85.7 percent , and anxiety 76.5 percent of the participants.
"The stress associated with being displaced [and] traumatized is the main reason for mental illnesses and leads to self-blame and being hard on oneself, making the situation worse," said Al-Delaimy.
"Self-compassion directly addresses this by looking inwards and helping ourselves cope with adversity."
The scientists compared how resilience and self-compassion affected the participants' mental health, and found that, while they both made a difference, self-compassion seemed to be a more powerful driver of protection.
This, Al-Delaimy told Newsweek, was the most illuminating finding from the study: "Self-compassion is more important than resilience as the more common focus for positive psychology approaches."
The participants were all adults who had been displaced from their home country for an average length of eight years. More than half of them reported having lived in a refugee camp, and more than a quarter said they had experienced or witnessed torture.
Refugees who were female, less financially stable, or had been exposed to higher levels of trauma, were more likely to experience worse mental health, the study found.
The study authors also noted that refugees' mental health may suffer due to a lack of resources, language barriers, and discrimination during resettlement.
"In spending time with these communities, I learned about the complex network of stressors they faced, including severe unemployment, limited access to healthcare, and separation from family," said first author Sarah Alsamman, a student at UC San Diego's School of Medicine, in a statement.
Al-Delaimy said in a statement that self-compassion practice "could become an innovative way to empower displaced communities processing an incredibly unjust life experience."
Syrian refugees make up more than a third of all displaced people around the world; 14 million Syrians have fled their homes over the course of more than a decade of conflict .
The UC San Diego scientists said they intend to extend their research to include Syrian refugees living in Southern California, testing the impact of self-compassion interventions on mental health.
This study was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE on September 19. It was co-authored by Rana Dajani of The Hashemite University in Jordan, and the MIT Refugee Action Hub.
Financial support was provided by the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UC San Diego.
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