In an uncontrolled pilot study, five veterans from recent wars with combat-related PTSD were trained in transcendental meditation and followed for 12 weeks. All participants improved on the primary PTSD symptom measure, with an average score reduction of 31.4 points. Significant improvements were also seen in clinician-rated severity, quality of life, and a self-reported PTSD checklist. The findings suggest that TM may help alleviate PTSD symptoms and improve quality of life in this small group, but larger, placebo-controlled studies are needed to confirm efficacy.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is at least as effective as prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for reducing PTSD symptoms in military veterans, and both therapies outperform PTSD health education alone. In a randomized trial of 203 veterans with PTSD from active service, TM was non-inferior to PE on the primary outcome of symptom severity change over three months. Both TM and PE produced significantly greater reductions in PTSD symptoms than health education. 61% of veterans receiving TM showed clinically significant improvement, compared with 42% receiving PE and 32% receiving health education. TM may offer an effective alternative for veterans who prefer not to undergo trauma-focused treatment.
Transcendental Meditation may benefit some children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders. Six carefully evaluated individuals with diagnosed ASDs appeared to benefit from the practice. The piece offers thoughts on how the technique might help such individuals, drawing from anecdotal reports and these case evaluations.