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The deep state of restful alertness during Transcendental Meditation, which cultures the nervous system to maintain a settled mental and physical functioning the rest of the day, helps to minimize disturbing thoughts, sleep difficulties, and other adverse PTSD symptoms.
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by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review
March 2014
Congolese war refugees who learned the Transcendental Meditation technique showed a significant reduction in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in just 10 days, according to a study published this month in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
The 11 subjects were then tested again after 30 days of practice and were found to be nearly free of symptoms.
"An earlier study found a similar result after 30 days, but we were surprised to see such a significant reduction with this group after just 10 days," said study author Brian Rees, MD.
The subjects were assessed using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Civilians, which rates the level of PTSD on a scale from 17 to 85, with a score below 35 indicating that the symptoms of PTSD have abated.
The subjects initially had an average score of 77.9. After 10 days of practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique, their scores fell to an average of 48, which was highly clinically significant.
In addition, the subjects were tested again after 30 days, with an average score of 35.3—meaning that they were nearly without symptoms of PTSD.
"What makes this study interesting is when we tested them in the 90 days before they began the Transcendental Meditation technique, their test scores just kept going up," said coauthor Fred Travis, director of MUM's Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition. "Their scores rose from 68.5 at the beginning to 77.9 after 90 days. But then once they started the Transcendental Meditation technique, their scores plummeted."
According to the researchers, during the Transcendental Meditation technique one experiences a deep state of restful alertness. Repeated experience of this restful alertness for 20 minutes twice a day cultures the nervous system to maintain settled mental and physical functioning the rest of the day. This helps minimize disturbing thoughts, sleep difficulties, and other adverse PTSD symptoms.
A previous study of Congolese refugees*, which involved 42 subjects, found that the Transcendental Meditation group had an average Checklist score of below 35 after 30 days, a non-symptomatic level, while the average score of the control group actually worsened over the same period.
"This is now the fourth study to show an improvement in PTSD," said Dr. Rees, a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. "The Transcendental Meditation technique is increasingly being seen as a viable treatment by the U.S. military."
* The David Lynch Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, focuses on raising funds to bring relief to Africans who are suffering from PTSD. It also conducts scientific studies to monitor improvements through TM on Africans with PTSD.
Over the next year, African PTSD Relief plans to provide the TM technique to 5,000–10,000 Africans suffering from or at risk of PTSD and rapidly scale up over the subsequent years.
African PTSD Relief will work with top humanitarian organizations and NGOs to empower the victims of decades of war and violence in Africa. When people can overcome traumatic stress and overwhelming suffering in their lives, they experience a rapid rise in health, happiness and success.
© Copyright 2014 Maharishi University of Management
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