PTSD and trauma

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• Mitsunobu Yoshimura, et al. Disaster relief for the Japanese Earthquake–Tsunami of 2011: stress reduction through the Transcendental Meditation technique
  Mitsunobu Yoshimura, Etsuko Kurokawa, Takayuki Noda, Koji Hineno, Yasuo Tanaka, Yuji Kawai, and Michael C. Dillbeck(2015) Disaster relief for the Japanese Earthquake–Tsunami of 2011: stress reduction through the Transcendental Meditation technique. Psychological Reports 2015;117(): 206-216. Abstract: "Summary.—This study examined changes in self-reported stress symptoms after instruction in the Transcendental Meditation® technique among 171 residents of two cities (Sendai and Ishinomaki) directly affected by the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster compared with 326 non-disaster Tokyo participants previously tested before and after learning the technique and a no-treatment control group (n = 68). The participants completed a rating checklist of mental and physical symptoms. Disaster area participants who learned the Transcendental Meditation® technique in contrast to controls showed a significant drop in total symptom score from pre-test to post-test (effect size = −1.09). Results were comparable for an ordinal measure of symptom intensity. The findings suggest the potential value of this procedure for relief from disaster trauma." Read More: http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/02.13.PR0.117c11z6
• Randomized Controlled Trials of TM in Veterans/First Responders with PTSD
  As of March 2023, one completed Defense Department-funded randomized trial has been published. A second randomized trial is recruiting.
• Reduced Trauma Symptoms and Perceived Stress in Male Prison Inmates through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  Sanford Nidich, Tom O’Connor, Thomas Rutledge, Jeff Duncan; Blaze Compton, Angela Seng, Randi Nidich. Perm J 2016 Fall;20(4):16-007 Abstract: Context: Trauma events are four times more prevalent in inmates than in the general public and are associated with increased recidivism and other mental and physical health issues. Objective: To evaluate the effects of Transcendental Meditationa (TM) on trauma symptoms in male inmates. Design: One hundred eighty-one inmates with a moderate- to high-risk criminal profile were randomly assigned to either the TM program or to a usual care control group. Main Outcome Measures: The Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered at baseline and four-month posttest. Results: Significant reductions in total trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, dissociation, and sleep disturbance subscales, and perceived stress in the TM group were found compared with controls (all p values < 0.001). The high-trauma subgroup analysis further showed a higher magnitude of effects in the TM group compared with controls on all outcomes, with Cohen effect sizes ranging from 0.67 to 0.89. Conclusion: Results are consistent with those of prior studies of the TM program in other populations and its effects on trauma symptoms and perceived stress.
• Reduction of PTSD in South African University Students Using Transcendental Meditation Practice
  Carole L. Bandy, Michael C. Dillbeck, Vincent Sezibera, Lian Taljaard, Mirah Wilks, David Shapiro, Jody de Reuck, Richard Peycke
  Psychological Reports. First published February 19, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119828036
  Abstract
  A study was conducted on South African college students using the Transcendental Meditation technique to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder. Students meeting the criteria for possible posttraumatic stress disorder were included. Thirty-four students at the experimental university in South Africa clinically diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder were instructed in and practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique twice daily compared to 34 diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder comparison students at the comparison university. The multivariate effect was significant for both the posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology and depression. Results were significantly associated with regularity of practice. The study replicates recent findings and offers an alternative educational treatment for higher education.
• See also Mental Health - Anxiety, Depression, Stress