Effectiveness of Meditation Techniques in Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) December 12, 2024 David W Orme-Johnson, Vernon A Barnes, Brian Rees et al. 5 citations
All categories of meditation helped reduce PTSD symptoms, with Transcendental Meditation (TM) producing significantly larger reductions than other types. A meta-analysis of 61 studies with 3,440 subjects compared four meditation approaches: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, other mindfulness techniques, Transcendental Meditation, and other non-mindfulness, non-TM methods. TM's effect size (Hedges's g = -1.13) was significantly larger than the others, which ranged from -0.52 to -0.66 and did not differ from each other. Trauma populations included war veterans, refugees, earthquake and tsunami victims, survivors of interpersonal violence, nurses, and prison inmates. No serious side effects were reported. A Phase 3 clinical trial testing TM against standard treatment was recommended.