FitMind

The FitMind Podcast: Mental Fitness, Neuroscience & Psychology

#114: Mindfulness, Medicine & the Biology of Stress - Dr. Craig Hassed

In this episode of the Fitmind podcast, Professor Craig Hassed from the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies shares his remarkable journey from a disillusioned 19-year-old medical student to a pioneer in integrating mindfulness into medical education. Craig recounts his first meditation experience at age 19, where without any books, teachers, or prior experience, he discovered a profound truth about the nature of consciousness—that beneath all thoughts and anxieties lies an unchanging sense of being that remains undisturbed. This pivotal moment set him on a path to incorporate mindfulness and compassion training into the medical curriculum at Monash University, giving future doctors tools beyond prescription pads to help patients manage stress, chronic pain, and mental health challenges. The conversation delves deep into the biology of stress, exploring how chronic activation of the fight-or-flight response creates "allostatic load"—a physiological wear and tear on the body. Craig explains how stress affects us at the genetic level through epigenetics, influencing which genes are expressed and which remain dormant. He discusses groundbreaking research on telomeres, the protective caps on chromosomes that shorten with stress and aging, and how meditation can actually slow this shortening and even reverse biological aging by activating repair enzymes. The episode also explores the crucial distinction between empathy and compassion, revealing how empathy can lead to burnout in healthcare professionals through empathic distress, while true compassion activates different neural circuits associated with positive emotions and affiliation without triggering the brain's stress response.