Effect of Practicing Meditation, Pranayama, and Yoga on the Mental Health of Female Undergraduate Medical Students: An Interventional Study
Cureus September 1, 2022 M. Lata, Himel Mondal, Manish Kumar et al.
An interventional study of 105 first-year female undergraduate medical students (median age 19) found that practicing meditation, pranayama, or yoga six days a week for 12 weeks reduced anxiety, depression, and anger and improved sense of well-being. Improvements appeared after six weeks and increased by 12 weeks. Yoga produced the greatest reductions in anxiety, depression, and anger, while meditation most enhanced well-being. The authors suggest that introducing and sustaining these practices may help improve mental health in this population, with longer programs yielding greater benefits.