Mindfulness Meditation: The Future of Medicine

Stakeholders of the pharmaceutical industry do not support the idea that mindfulness meditation is efficient at improving free throw shooting with the onset of mental impairments. Moreover, while at the line with high stakes, it is easy for intense anxiety and uneasy feelings to arise. With the individuals wanting to combat these feelings, the pharmaceutical industry jumps to prescribe individuals numerous medications, while they receive large amounts of money in return. For example, medications that are proven to be effective like Celexa, Prozac, and Zoloft are often prescribed, despite the negative side effects that ensue with taking them. This is why there is a need for an alternative method like mindfulness to combat this issue in athletes. However, by resulting in a different and natural method like this, there would be less need for certain pharmaceutical products causing a financial loss. Thus making it a big reason why stakeholders do not support the idea of opting for mindfulness first. Having that said, the innervation of the meditation in basketball can improve free throw shooting as it can improve focus and counter anxious emotions. 

A study was conducted that proved mindfulness can improve one’s attentional focus when shooting free throws. The study consisted of 30 players separated into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. Before anything, each player underwent shooting skill tests, which were known as their pretest scores. From there, the experimental group went through a 6-week program consisting of basic meditation, mindfulness meditation, and concentration meditation. After the completion of the program, both groups retook the shooting skills test to explore if the meditation had any effects. Comparing both the pre and post-tests, it was apparent that the controlled group had no significant difference. However, within the experimental group, there was a significant improvement in the players shooting abilities, concluding that the innervation of meditation came with positive repercussions. It is believed that this is because practicing meditation aids individuals in focusing their attention and sustaining it on specific tasks. 

With that being said, I can’t help but think that by regularly practicing mindfulness meditation, I can improve my ability to focus on strenuous academic tasks. Moreover, as someone who lives with ADHD, focusing has always been a difficult task for me. To combat this issue, I have been prescribed various medications like Adderall, Focalin, and Ritalin. Although these do help, they come with some negative side effects like loss of appetite, dry mouth, and weight loss. Therefore, the practice of mindfulness meditation as something to treat disorders like mine is a good way to enhance my cognitive ability without giving into the pharmaceutical industry and reaping some of the negative effects brought on by the drugs. 

Another experiment was run that determined mindfulness can reduce anxiety while shooting free throws. The study consisted of 138 experienced basketball players. To start the experiment, each participant completed a Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation-II (BFNE-II) questionnaire. From there, players took a total of 50 shots from 5 different spots under low and high-pressure conditions. The results of this study showed that those who experienced high Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) had increased anxiety and decreased performance in high-pressure conditions. Those who experienced low-FNE had little to no difference when it came to high-pressure conditions. This study shows the impact that emotions have on a player’s performance. Thus making the need for the addition of mindfulness practice very important. This is since practicing mindfulness can reduce participants’ anxiety. Therefore, implementing it as something for basketball players who experience high-FNE can drastically improve their performance in high-pressure situations. This would eliminate some of the need for anti-anxiety medications. 

Evidence shows the performance of mindfulness can counteract the effects of being in an ego-depleted state. In December of 2017, an experiment was conducted to examine the presence of mindfulness on ego depletion in basketball players’ free throw shooting. The study consisted of 72 experienced male players split into 4 groups: depletion/mindfulness, no depletion/mindfulness, depletion/no mindfulness, and control (no depletion/on mindfulness). Moreover, participants in the mindfulness intervention used guided 15-minute audio, while the participants with no mindfulness intervention listened to an audiobook. Before and after these interventions, players shot 30 free throws. Results proved that after ego depletion, participants’ free throw shooting performance declined. However, the implementation of practicing mindfulness after ego depletion maintained players’ free-throw performance similar to the control group, thus showing that mindfulness had a positive effect on the players’ performance.

To sum up, mindfulness meditation is a useful and safe option to reduce negative emotions and increase focus while shooting free throws. Regardless of this, stakeholders within the pharmaceutical industry will continue to disagree and try to invalidate the facts. Primarily because the positive results regarding focus and feelings, will reduce the need for some of the drugs used to produce the same effects. With that said, it is important to consider that practicing mindfulness can improve the quality of certain aspects of others’ lives. For example, those who struggle with mental illnesses like PTSD or OCD could use mindfulness to stay in the present moment. By doing this, traumatic flashbacks can possibly be decreased and obsessive thoughts could lose some of their power, allowing for a better quality of life. This is why we must recognize mindfulness meditation as the first form of treatment when possible, before prescribing individuals numerous drugs that possess many unfavorable side effects.

References

Thakur, S., Tara, Mahesh, Chanda. (2016). Enhancement in Shooting ability of Basketball players through Meditation. Research Journal of Physical Education Sciences Vol. 4(4), 1-4, May (2016).

Click to access Enhancement-in-Shooting-ability-of-Basketball-players-through-Meditation.pdf

Mesagno, C., Harvey, J. T., & Janelle, C. M. (2012). Choking under pressure: The role of fear of negative evaluation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(1), 60-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.07.007

Shaabani, F., Naderi, A., Borella, E., & Calmeiro, L. (2020). Does a brief mindfulness intervention counteract the detrimental effects of ego depletion in basketball free throw under pressure? Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 9(2), 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000201