Yoga and Meditation for PTSD Sufferers

Military veterans with PTSD turn to yoga and meditation

Quote:

The Australian Defence Force is grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops, and personnel are calling for better access to emerging therapies like yoga and meditation. Wing Commander Nick Dyce-McGowan had undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder after running air traffic control in Iraq in 2004. "I'd been in a foul mood for about 10 years," he said. "I was just angry for no apparent reason and snappy and I isolated myself from friends and family." Wing Commander Dyce-McGowan was seeing a psychologist privately and working with military medical staff. He turned a corner in his treatment after trying a meditation technique developed for troops in the United States. "I was initially quite reluctant about the whole thing," he said. "But I gave it a shot because nothing else was working. My wife noticed a positive change after the first session. "I think it's the self-regulation aspect. It makes you aware of what's going on inside your own head and how you're reacting to things."

Sure, anecdotes are great, and that article has several. But does it really work?

Turns out, it might. There is a limited amount of evidence that yoga and meditation are marginally effective in assisting to manage the symptoms of PTSD. That's about it. There is evidence that it works, but it's not good evidence.

Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - A Systematic Review

Meditation and Yoga for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Yoga for posttraumatic stress disorder – a systematic review and meta-analysis

Meditation for posttraumatic stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

One of the reasons that it might be marginally successful is that it makes the practitioner more aware of their mental state, which is important in the management of PTSD as it allows a sufferer to more effectively manage their symptoms. Mindfulness meditation teaches you to stand aside and allow the mental traffic to pass you by. The Litany Against Fear from Dune (I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer) is a short guided mindfulness meditation. So its method of operation is plausible.

Should it replace regular psychiatric care? No. But one thing that all of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses conclude is that there are no adverse effects. So even if the effects are only marginal, it might be worth doing anyway.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2HyhfXo