The Effect of Meditation on Depression and Psychological Well-being Among Active Smokers.
Gurpreet Verma, Vijendra Nath Pathak, Prabhjyot Kour, Krishan Kumar
Annals of neurosciences January 19, 2026 DOI: 10.1177/09727531251406994
Summary
Just one week of meditation dramatically improved mental health for active smokers. Among 100 daily smokers, half practiced meditation for one week. Their average depression scores dropped from 54.36 to 28.10, and psychological well-being scores increased from 57.50 to 65.88. Crucially, post-intervention, these individuals showed significantly lower depression (28.10 vs. 55.02) and higher well-being (65.88 vs. 56.60) compared to a control group. Meditation is a powerful strategy for enhancing mental health in people who smoke.
Abstract
Depression and active smoking are very common situations among the population, which also reduces the positive mental well-being of a person. Smoking is a global issue, and depression and low mental well-being interfere with the daily lives of individuals. This study aimed to investigate the effect of meditation on an active smoker in terms of depression and psychological well-being (PWB) as variables. The study used the pre-test and post-test design with 100 participants who were actively engaged in daily smoking. The individuals were divided equally into the two groups, and depression and PWB scores were recorded for both groups in the pre-test period. After recording the scores, the experimental group received meditation practice for one week, while the control group received no treatment. After one week, depression and PWB scores were again tested in the post-test period for both groups and recorded. Paired-samples t-tests revealed a significant decrease in depression scores from pre-test (M = 54.36, SD = 4.91) to post-test (M = 28.10, SD = 6.05), t(49) = 24.70, p = .01, and a significant increase in PWB scores from pre-test (M = 57.50, SD = 4.91) to post-test (M = 65.88, SD = 4.94), t(49) = 9.96, p = .01. Independent-samples t-tests showed that post-intervention, the experimental group had significantly higher depression scores (M = 55.02, SD = 4.42) compared to the control group (M = 28.10, SD = 6.05), F = 7.14, p = .05, and significantly lower well-being scores (M = 56.60, SD = 4.69) versus (M = 65.88, SD = 4.94), F = 0.017, p = .05. The intervention was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing PWB among participants, demonstrating its potential as a beneficial programme for mental health improvement.