Stress and working with addicts: a role for meditation?

Abstract

Occupational stress is frequent among individuals whose work brings them into close contact with other people. One putative means of preventing or alleviating such stress is meditation (West, 1987). A six week course in meditation was recently held for staff in the Drug Dependence Service based at University College Hospital, London. The idea for the course came from the head of the unit who had personal experience of meditation. The course and its acceptability to staff are described below.