Meditation Helps With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Transcendental meditation™ may help alleviate symptoms of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research suggests. In a small pilot study of male veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, those who practiced TM showed a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms, significant increases in quality-of-life measures, and improvements in communication and sleep after 8 weeks. “Even though the number of veterans in this study was small, the results were very impressive as their symptoms improved by 50%,” Normal Rosenthal, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and director of research at Capital Clinical Research Associates in Rockville, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News. “The participants were in extreme distress at the start and the TM technique they learned quite literally transformed their lives,” said Dr. Rosenthal.The investigators add that the participants found TM easy to perform and that the practice was well accepted.”PTSD doesn’t get better on its own very easily; it’s very tenacious. So it’s gratifying to see a major impact on people from a simple technique that doesn’t require highly specialized personnel or equipment and can be done at any time,” said Dr. Rosenthal. This study was published in the June issue of Military Medicine.