title: A training programme involving automatic self-transcending meditation in late-life depression: preliminary analysis of an ongoing randomised controlled trial.
abstract: Late-life depression affects 2-6% of seniors aged 60 years and above. Patients are increasingly embracing non-pharmacological therapies, many of which have not been scientifically evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate a category of meditation, automatic self-transcending meditation (ASTM), in alleviating symptoms of depression when augmenting treatment as usual (NCT02149810). The preliminary results of an ongoing single-blind randomised controlled trial comparing a training programme involving ASTM with a wait-list control indicate that a 12-week ASTM programme may lead to significantly greater reductions in depression and anxiety severity. As such, ASTM may be an effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of late-life depression.
  
  
  
  R.I.N. is Director of Research and Health Promotion for the Art of Living Foundation, Canada and supervised the staff providing ASTM training.
  
  
  
  © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.
authors.affiliation: , MBBS, MD, MRCPsych, Divisions of Geriatric Psychiatry and Clinical Pharmacology, Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Akshya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasudev
authors.affiliation: , PhD, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arena
authors.affiliation: , MD, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Amer M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Burhan
authors.affiliation: , HBSc, DCTM, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ionson
authors.affiliation: , MMath, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Hussein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirjee
authors.affiliation: , MD, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Pramudith
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maldeniya
authors.affiliation: , MD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wetmore
authors.affiliation: , EdM, CAS, Art of Living Foundation, Canada; Nova Southeastern University Lifelong Learning Institute, Davie, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Ronnie I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Newman