The Effect of Anapanasati Meditation on Depression: A Randomized Control Trial
B. Sivaramappa, Sudheer Deshpande, Joint Director Vyasa Eknath Bhavan Bangalore Karnataka India, P. Venkata Giri Kumar, Hongasandra Ramarao Nagendra
Journal of Ayurvedic and Herbal Medicine August 31, 2018 DOI: 10.31254/jahm.2018.4301 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled trial (non-randomized, two-group comparison) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 115 |
| Population | Individuals with moderate depression |
| Intervention | Anapanasati meditation |
| Duration | 6 months of daily practice (1 hour per day) |
| Measures | Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI) |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | After six months, participants with moderate depression who practiced one hour of supervised Anapanasati meditation daily showed a significant reduction in Beck Depression Inventory II scores, whereas the control group showed no significant change. |
Abstract
Aim: To study the effect of Anpanasati Meditation on individuals with moderate depression.
Methods: A total of 115 participants who were willing to participate in the study were recruited for the study. Anapanasati meditation was used as an intervention. The participants were divided into two groups experiment and control groups. Experiment group had 59 persons performing Anapanasati meditation and Control group had 56 persons not performing any type of meditation. The experiment group practiced one hour of Anapanasati meditation daily under the supervision of experts for six months and continued their daily routine and control group was not given any intervention, but they continued their daily routine. Beck Depression Inventory II is used to assess the depression level.
Results: The BDI score before and after Anapanasati meditation was analysed for both experiment and control groups using Paired Samples T test. The experiment group has shown significant reduction in the BDI (P < 0.05) score after the intervention whereas in the control group the reduction in BDI score was not significant.
Conclusion: This study has shown that after six months of intervention, the subjects with moderate depression who practiced Anapanasati meditation had a significant decrease in their Depression score and the control group has not shown significant change in the depression score.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on depression, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. American Psychologist 2006
- Distinct Neural Activity Associated with Focused-Attention Meditation and Loving-Kindness Meditation PLoS One August 15, 2012
- A pilot randomised controlled trial investigating a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention in individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH): the PATHWAYS study Pilot and Feasibility Studies May 1, 2018
- The Interrelated Physiological and Psychological Effects of EcoMeditation. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine 2018
- A Breathing-based Meditation Intervention for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Following Inadequate Response to Antidepressants: A Randomized Pilot Study The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2017
and 4 more in the library