Efficacy of Binaural Beat Meditation Technology for Treating Anxiety Symptoms: A Pilot Study.
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease February 1, 2020 A. Yusim, Justinas Grigaitis
A novel binaural beat meditation technology was tested for anxiety in 20 psychiatric outpatients with anxiety disorder and 8 nonpatients in healing professions. Participants used the technology for 2 weeks to 2 months. The group combining psychiatry treatment with meditation showed a 13.5-point (26.5%) decrease in State-Anxiety, a 14.1-point (24.7%) decrease in Trait-Anxiety, and a 27.6-point (25.6%) decrease in Total Anxiety. The psychiatry-only group had smaller decreases, and the meditation-only group showed a 3.5-point (9.8%) decrease in Trait-Anxiety. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, medications, and treatment variables, only the psychiatry-plus-meditation group showed statistically significant improvement in Total Anxiety. The technology may have a positive effect on anxiety in a psychiatric practice context, but larger randomized controlled trials are needed.