14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists with the US Army Reserve Medical Corps, led by colonel Brian Rees, MD, MPH, argue in a new study that African war refugees who practice and train in transcendental meditation are more likely to be able to cope with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
The study was led on Congolese war refugees living in Ugandan camps, after escaping persecution and torture in their native lands. Many of these survivors were exposed to extreme violence, and display severe mental health consequences as a direct result, PsychCentral reports.
In a paper published in a recent issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, Rees, the lead author of the study, explains how transcendental meditation practice helped refugees with severe PTSD cope with their symptoms within just 10 days. This is just the latest research to showcases the positive effects of meditation on the human mind.
On a scale from 17 to 85, all test participants displayed PTSD symptoms rated at 77.9. A value below 35 was considered a reduction. After practicing TM for a full month, average ratings of symptoms decreased to 35.3 points, implying a significant improvement.