Mindfulness Therapy: An Innovative Efforts to Improve the Mental Health of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Students with disabilities are a group that faces more complex and complex mental health issues. Discrimination and difficulties experienced by students with disabilities during the learning process give rise to unpleasant feelings, putting them at higher risk for depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Therefore, mindfulness therapy is necessary to improve the mental health of students with disabilities, as evidenced by a reduction in negative symptoms such as stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. This study used a one-group pretest-posttest design involving 21 students with disabilities at Lancang Kuning University with various disabilities: deafness, blindness, physical disabilities, and mental retardation, with total sampling. Measurements in this study used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale modified by Damanik (2006). The results of this study, using descriptive analysis, found varying results regarding differences in the mental health of students with disabilities after being given mindfulness therapy. However, overall, it can be concluded that there was an improvement in the mental health of students with disabilities who had received mindfulness therapy.