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Breathing‐Based Meditation Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
Seppälä Emma M.,
Nitschke Jack B.,
Tudorascu Dana L.,
Hayes Andrea,
Goldstein Michael R.,
Nguyen Dong T. H.,
Perlman David,
Davidson Richard J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.21936
Subject(s) - meditation , anxiety , intervention (counseling) , randomized controlled trial , anxiety disorder , medicine , breathing , posttraumatic stress , depression (economics) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , physical therapy , psychology , philosophy , theology , economics , macroeconomics
Given the limited success of conventional treatments for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), investigations of alternative approaches are warranted. We examined the effects of a breathing‐based meditation intervention, Sudarshan Kriya yoga, on PTSD outcome variables in U.S. male veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan war. We randomly assigned 21 veterans to an active ( n = 11) or waitlist control ( n = 10) group. Laboratory measures of eye‐blink startle and respiration rate were obtained before and after the intervention, as were self‐report symptom measures; the latter were also obtained 1 month and 1 year later. The active group showed reductions in PTSD scores, d = 1.16, 95% CI [0.20, 2.04], anxiety symptoms, and respiration rate, but the control group did not. Reductions in startle correlated with reductions in hyperarousal symptoms immediately postintervention ( r = .93, p < .001) and at 1‐year follow‐up ( r = .77, p = .025). This longitudinal intervention study suggests there may be clinical utility for Sudarshan Kriya yoga for PTSD.