Author: Seppälä EM1, Nitschke JB, Tudorascu DL, Hayes A, Goldstein MR, Nguyen DT, Perlman D, Davidson RJ.
Affiliation: 1Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Conference/Journal: J Trauma Stress.
Date published: 2014 Aug
Other:
Volume ID: 27 , Issue ID: 4 , Pages: 397-405 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1002/jts.21936 , Word Count: 155
Abstract
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.
Copyright © 2014 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
PMID: 25158633