21 men suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD after serving combat time in Iraq and Afghanistan were part of a study at the University of W-Madison, that has concluded that yoga and help reduce symptoms of PTSD and improve veterans’ quality of life. PTSD has usually been tackled by the medical community with medicines, pills and psychiatry.
The 21 men were split into two groups, one of 11 men who learnt yoga for a week in daily 3-hour sessions, and another who participated in no such class. Researchers studied the two groups and measured PTSD symptoms, immediately after the 7-day program, then a month and a year later, and found that the “yoga group” had benefited greatly. Yoga is known to have many benefits, but this study is one of the first that has focused on PTSD among veterans.
Agnieszka Golec de Zavala, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of London who also happens to teach yoga analyzed why yoga could help with PTSD. In her view, yoga’s emphasis on focusing on the breath helps break the vicious cycle which traps people to focus on negative thoughts.
Symptoms that reduced for the “yoga group” include lower anxiety levels and lower and steadier breathing rates. Their eye-blink and breath frequency was measured and was found to be more stable when responding to stimuli such as noise bursts. The veterans also reported a reduction in the intrusion of negative memories.
Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry and one of the lead authors, hopes further studies confirm yoga’s efficacy in treating PTSD, which will help doctors prescribe yoga for PTSD among a wider demographic.