title: Breathing-based meditation decreases posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in U.S. military veterans: a randomized controlled longitudinal study.
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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
authors.forename: Emma M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Seppälä
authors.forename: Jack B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Nitschke
authors.forename: Dana L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Tudorascu
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Dong T H
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perlman
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D001767:Blinking; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods*; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D056152:Respiratory Rate; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*