Breathing‐Based Meditation Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study. Issue 4 (August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seppälä, Emma M.; Nitschke, Jack B.; Tudorascu, Dana L.; Hayes, Andrea; Goldstein, Michael R.; Nguyen, Dong T. H.; Perlman, David; Davidson, Richard J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of traumatic stress. Volume 27:Issue 4(2014)
• Page Start: 397
• Page End: 405
• Publication Date: 2014-08
• Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Periodicals; 616.8521
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.21936
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-9867

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>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 (<italic>n</italic> = 11) or waitlist control (<italic>n</italic> = 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, <italic>d</italic> = 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 (<italic>r</italic> = .93, <italic>p</italic> &lt; .001) and at 1‐year follow‐up (<italic>r</italic> = .77, <italic>p</italic> = .025). This longitudinal intervention study suggests there may be clinical utility for Sudarshan Kriya yoga for PTSD.</p> </abstract>