Treating PTSD in largest review to date a meta-analysis
A Groundbreaking Comparison of Meditation Techniques
Researchers from Maharishi International University (MIU) and Augusta University have conducted the largest review and meta-analysis to date on meditation for PTSD treatment. Analyzing 61 studies with over 3,400 participants, the study compared four categories of meditation: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Other techniques (MBO), Other Meditations (OM), and Transcendental Meditation (TM). Effect sizes for the first three categories of meditation ranged from -.52 to -.66, a moderate effect, compared to -1.13 for TM, a large effect. Results indicate that TM is significantly more effective compared to each of the other modalities. The study is published in Medicina 2024, 60(12), 2050.
Lead author MIU Professor Emeritus Dr. David Orme-Johnson explained, “Our findings show that all meditation techniques studied can help alleviate PTSD symptoms, but TM stands out as producing the largest and most consistent reductions across diverse trauma populations. Studies show that TM works in men and women, in youth and the elderly, in war veterans and war refugees, in women survivors of interpersonal violence, in prison inmates, in tsunami and earthquake survivors, and in nurses who became traumatized during the 2019 pandemic.”