A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation as Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans

Abstract

Preliminary studies have demonstrated the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation (TM) for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study extended previous research with a pilot trial of TM as a treatment for PTSD via a single-blinded, randomized controlled design. veterans with PTSD (N = 40) were assigned to a TM intervention or treatment-as-usual (TAU) control group. Participants in the TM group engaged in 16 sessions over 12 weeks, primarily in a 60-min group format. Change in PTSD symptoms, measured via the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included self-reported PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, anger, and quality of life (QoL). Assessments were conducted at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Mean CAPS-5 score decreases were significantly larger for participants in the TM group (M = -11.28, 95% CI [-17.35, -5.20]), compared to the TAU group (M = −1.62, 95% CI [-6.77, 3.52]), p = .012, d = -0.84. At posttest, 50.0% of veterans in the TM group no longer met PTSD diagnostic criteria as compared to 10.0% in the TAU group, p = .007. Adjusted mean changes on self-report measures of PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties indicated significant reductions in the TM group compared to TAU, ds = .80-1.16. There were no significant group differences regarding anger or QoL. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of TM as a treatment for veterans with PTSD and for comorbid symptoms. Combined with other research, they suggest that TM may be a tolerable, non-trauma-focused PTSD treatment.In the United States, the lifetime prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is nearly twice as high among veterans than among the civilian adult population, with rates of 10%-13%, depending on the era of military service (Steenkamp et al., 2015;Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008) versus 6.8%-8% (Kessler et al., 2005). Moreover, an estimated 11% of Vietnam War veterans continue to report PTSD symptoms over 40 years after the end of the war (Marmar et al., 2015). Often, PTSD is accompanied by symptoms of depression as well as anxiety David Lynch Foundation provided funding for the present study.

Effectiveness of Mantra-Based Meditation on Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Meditation versus control group . Twenty-five studies (reported in 23 articles, n = 1825) assessed self-reported anxiety: 12 studies (in 10 references) evaluated TM [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ] and 13 OMBM [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”

“…Meditation versus control group . Twenty-two studies (reported in 23 articles, n = 1616) with data on self-reported depression were included in the MA: 13 evaluated TM [ 13 , 14 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]; 8 OMBM [ 36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 60 ]; and 1 [ 61 ] evaluated a combination of mantra-based meditation, Tibetan sounds, and attention focused on breathing. Thirteen studies included clinical samples, and nine included adults from the general population.…”

“…Six studies ( n = 513) that used the PTSD checklist (PCL) were included in the MA. Four studies applied TM (two with prison inmates [ 31 , 65 ] and two with veterans [ 14 , 27 ]), whereas two studies applied OMBM in veterans [ 15 , 40 ]. The result was significantly favourable to the intervention (g = −0.59, 95% CI: −0.79, −0.38; I 2 = 0%; prediction interval: −1.00, −0.17) (see Figure 7 ).…”

“…Four studies conducted a clinical assessment using the Clinically Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) [ 14 , 27 , 40 , 67 ]. The overall result was significantly favourable to the intervention (g = −0.45, 95% CI: −0.72, −0.18; I 2 = 0%; prediction interval: −1.33, 0.42) (see Figure 8 ).…”

“…Four studies evaluated sleep problems. Two studies obtained significant results favouring TM versus control groups, one with incarcerated men (g = −0.67, 95% CI: −1.01, −0.34) [ 31 ] and one with people with PTSD (g = −0.78, 95% CI: −1.43, −0.14) [ 27 ]. One study that applied a mixed meditation in women with breast cancer did not observe significant differences after 10 weeks ( p = 0.29) [ 61 ].…”