Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Aug;27(4):397-405.
doi: 10.1002/jts.21936.

Breathing-based meditation decreases posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in U.S. military veterans: a randomized controlled longitudinal study

Emma M Seppälä  1 , Jack B Nitschke, Dana L Tudorascu, Andrea Hayes, Michael R Goldstein, Dong T H Nguyen, David Perlman, Richard J Davidson
Affiliations
Free PMC article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Breathing-based meditation decreases posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in U.S. military veterans: a randomized controlled longitudinal study

Emma M Seppälä et al. J Trauma Stress. 2014 Aug.
Free PMC article

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram summarizing participant flow for recruitment, enrollment, allocation, follow-ups, and analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reduction of PTSD hyperarousal symptoms following Sudarshan Kriya yoga was associated with reduction in startle response.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alderman CP, McCarthy LC. Marwood AC. Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology. 2009;2:77–86. &. doi: 10.1586/17512433.2.1.77. - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatric disorders. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Author; 2013.
    1. Arch JJ. Craske MG. Mechanisms of mindfulness: Emotion regulation following a focused breathing induction. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2006;44:1849–1858. &. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2005.12.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Asmundson GJG. Stein MB. Vagal attenuation in panic disorder: An assessment of parasympathetic nervous system function and subjective reactivity to respiratory manipulations. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1994;56:187–193. &. Retrieved from http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/56/3/187.long. - PubMed
    1. Blanchard E, Jones-Alexander J, Buckley T. Forneris C. Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL) Behavior Research and Therapy. 1996;34:669–673. &. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(96)00033-2. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types