Transcendental Meditation each day helps balance the lives of students and improve their readiness to learn.

New study shows students find relief from PTSD
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review
4 March 2019

Students at Maharishi University of Management's partner institution in South Africa typically come from townships with high levels of violence and crime, and now a new study has found that practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique helps them to cope with the resulting post-traumatic disorder and depression that they suffer.

Published in Psychological Reports, the study found that after 3.5 months of practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique, most of the 34 Maharishi Institute students who participated in the study – all of whom were initially diagnosed with PTSD by mental health professionals – went below clinical thresholds. The students also experienced relief from depression.

A comparison group of 34 students from the University of Johannesburg suffering from PTSD and depression received no treatment and continued to show no change in their symptoms throughout the study.

At the start, the students had a score of 44 or more on the PCL-C test. Symptoms included nightmares, flashbacks to traumatic events, anxiety, fear, and hyper-vigilance. They also reported emotional numbness, anger, and violent behavior. At the conclusion, their average score was 32.

“A high percentage of young people in South Africa, especially those in the townships, suffer from PTSD,” said coauthor Michael Dillbeck, researcher at MUM’s Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy.

“To become successful students and productive members of society, they absolutely need help dealing with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Our study shows, that after three months of meditation, this group, on average, was out of PTSD. It offers a way for others to effectively deal with this problem.”

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