HealthDay News reported today that a new study reveals how transcendental meditation may help conquer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some soldiers. Consistent meditation may also reduce affected soldiers’ need for psychotropic medications.
According to the study, after a period of about 30 days, nearly 84 percent of the sample group (participating in both psychotherapy and transcendental meditation) had either stopped, reduced, or stabilized their use of psychotropic medications used to treat their mental health conditions. Nearly 11 percent of the sample group increased their use of medications.
One of the Hebrew words for meditate, literally means to murmur to yourself. Meditation is therefore a constant communication with the inner spirit. Transcendental meditation (TM) is specifically a technique to promote a state of relaxation without losing present awareness and avoiding distracting thoughts.
The late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is credited with developing TM from the ancient Vedic tradition of India, bringing the technique to the U.S. in the 1960s. Not only is transcendental meditation growing in popularity, it is scientifically proven to have health benefits (video).
The practice of TM consists of a person while in meditation, sitting in a comfortable position with his or her eyes closed and silently repeating a mantra. “A mantra is a meaningless sound from the Vedic tradition that’s been assigned by a certified instructor.”
According proponents of TM, the ordinary thinking process is “transcended” when the persons in meditating. The traditional thinking process is replaced by “a state of pure consciousness.” While in this purified state, the meditator can achieves perfect “stillness, rest, stability, order, and a complete absence of mental boundaries.”
Research leader, Vernon Barnes, a physiologist at the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Georgia, said in a college news release that “Regular practice of transcendental meditation provides a habit of calming down and healing the brain.”
The GA college study was conducted with 74 active-duty, U.S. military personnel who had a prior diagnosis of PTSD or some other documented anxiety disorder. This sample group was divided in half. 37 participants used psychotherapy to ease symptoms of their mental health condition. The other 37 participants used both psychotherapy and transcendental meditation to ease their symptoms.
In the control group (participants who did not add the meditation to their therapy method), about 59 percent of participants had a reduction oriented change in their medication, while 41 percent, increased their medications.
The most interesting statistic seems to be that with transcendental meditation, only about 11 percent of participants had a medication increase, while those who used only psychotherapy increased their medication use by 41 percent, which is almost four times more.
By the sixth month of the study, the control group (non-meditation) had a 20 percent greater increase in their negative symptoms than did participants in the sample group (meditation and psychotherapy).
Transcendental meditation helps participants to achieve inner quietness in a state that lowers stress hormone levels. The ability to achieve this state of “quietness” can counteract the typical anxiety, irritability, and hypervigilance that generally accompany soldiers with PTSD when they return home from deployment.
“About 13 percent of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD,” which is a known common side effect of either experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Persons living with PTSD may have intrusive and frightening thoughts including flashbacks and nightmares. These involuntary recollections can interfere with daily living.
