National Collegiate Honors Council
Date of this Version
2018
Document Type
Article
Citation
UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity: http://www.nchc-ureca.com/
Abstract
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that is currently increasing among the general public. Unfortunately, researchers have yet to find an effective treatment. Due to the lack of treatment, Transcendental Meditation has become a popular option and may potentially be an alternative treatment therapy. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which Transcendental Meditation (TM) relieves symptoms in patients with PTSD by analyzing brain activity. A comparison was also made between traditionally used PTSD therapies and TM. Because the research regarding this topic is relatively new and was more heavily focused on patients with severe PTSD, the investigation focuses on analyzing studies done on war veteran PTSD patients.
It was concluded that TM did greatly reduce symptoms of PTSD patients. Compared to the control group who used the regular PTSD therapies, the experimental group that practiced TM had clinically significant results. Unlike the other therapies, TM is able to reduce the “flight-or-fight” response seen in PTSD patients, as well as heal the overactive amygdala. TM is easier to practice compared to most PTSD therapies and is more effective, making this technique preferable among PTSD patients.
Comments
Copyright @ by the author.