Stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders like anxiety, depression, chronic tension headache, and migraine affect many people worldwide. While drugs such as antidepressants, anxiolytics, and analgesics help combat symptoms, they also create long-term side effects. As an alternative, complementary therapies like yoga and meditation have proved effective in alleviating the causes and symptoms of various neuropsychiatric disorders. The role of altered brain waves in this context has been recognized and needs further study. This review describes the effects of yoga and meditation on anxiety and depression and explores brain waves as a tool for assessing these therapies.
Mindfulness meditation and progressive relaxation each reduced chronic pain in older women with diabetes. In a randomized trial of 105 participants, those practicing mindfulness meditation reported a 28.7% reduction in average daily pain, while those using progressive relaxation reported a 39.7% reduction by study end. The mindfulness group's pain score dropped from 5.2 ± 1.2 to 3.0 ± 1.1 at week 12, a significant improvement over the control group. Patient satisfaction also increased significantly in the mindfulness group. The authors argue that integrative therapies like mindfulness meditation can complement pain management, potentially reducing medication use and improving comorbid conditions without risk of addiction.