Research is extremely important to support different approaches to health care. In the recent past, Yoga has been gaining lot of attention as Yoga Institutes, reseachers, scholars have started offering substantive clinical research evidence. In this issue, Indian Yoga Association brings to you the Research Papers published by our Member Institutes and other Institutes or individuals on the benefits of yoga in depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses

Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA)

Integrated Yoga Therapy for Mental Illness

Author: Dr HR Nagendra
Published in: Indian J Psychiatry
Published on: July 2013

Mental disorders have been described as one of the most devastating disorders of mankind for two reasons. The first is its relatively wide­spread incidence, i.e., around 2% in India and a prevalence averag­ing to about 6% in a meta-analytical study (Math and Srinivasaraju, 2010). The other reason is the extent to which it renders a person incapable of taking care of him/herself. Majority of the papers submitted in this special issue, depict the effectiveness of yoga on varied parameters for mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyper-activity disorder and patients with functional disorders. The few papers, which have looked at the effect of yoga on elderly or healthy caregivers also, have focused on mental health outcome variables. In this context, we need to understand the mechanisms that work in making yoga effective for mental disorders/mental health.

Centre for Yoga Therapy Education and Research (CYTER)

Effect of a 12 Week Yoga Therapy Program on Men­tal Health Status in Elderly Women Inmates of a Hospice

Author: Meena Ramanathan, Ananda Balayogi Bhava­nani, Madanmohan Trakroo
Published In: International Journal of Yoga
Published On: 2017

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga on the mental health status of elderly women inmates residing in a hospice in Puducherry. Forty elderly women were randomly divided into yoga and wait-listed control group. A yoga therapy program of 60 min was given twice a week for 12 weeks. This protocol was specially designed for senior citizens, keeping in mind their health status and physical limitations that included simple warm-up and breath-body movement coordination practices (jathis and kriyas), static stretching postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayamas), and relaxation. Hamilton anxiety scale for measuring anxiety, Hamilton rating scale for depression, and Rosenberg self-esteem scale to measure self-esteem were administered to both groups before and after the 12-week study period. Data were assessed for normality, and appropriate parametric and nonparametric statistical methods were applied for intra- and inter-group comparisons. Overall, intra- and inter-group comparison of prepost data showed statistically significant (P < 0.001) differences for all three parameters. There was an overall improvement in the scores indicating decreased levels of depression and anxiety coupled with an increase in the level of self-esteem after the yoga therapy program. The influence of yoga in the reduction of depression and anxi­ety scores and improvement in self-esteem scores in elderly women subjects is evident from this study. As reported in earlier studies, this may be attributed to changes in central neurotransmitters such as gamma-aminobutyric-acid coupled with increased parasympathetic tone and decreased sympatho-adrenal activity. It is recommended that yoga should be a part of health-care facilities for elderly as it can enhance the quality of life by improving their overall mental health status. It could provide a healthy and positive alternative from depressing negative thoughts, and give them a sense of purpose and hope.

Managing Mental Health Disorders Resulting from Trauma through Yoga: A Review

Published In: Depression Research and Treatment, Vol­ume 2012
Published On: June 19, 2012
Author: Shirley Telles, Nilkamal Singh, and Acharya Balkrishna

There are many and varied types of trauma. The extent to which trauma influences the mental health of an individual depends on the nature of trauma, as well as on the individual’s coping capabilities. Often trauma is followed by depression, anxiety, and PTSD. As the pharmacological remedies for these conditions often have undesirable side-effects, nonpharmacological remedies are thought of as a possible add-on treatment. Yoga is one such mind-body intervention. This paper covers eleven studies indexed in PubMed, in which mental health disorders resulting from trauma were managed through yoga including meditation. The aim was to evaluate the use of yoga in managing trauma-related depression, anxiety, PTSD and physiological stress following exposure to natural calamities, war, interpersonal violence, and incarceration in a correc­tional facility. An attempt has also been made to explore possible mechanisms underlying benefits seen. As most of these studies were not done on persons exposed to trauma that had practiced yoga, this is a definite area for further research.

Kaivalyadhama S.M.Y.M. Samiti

Anxiety and Depression Related to Yog Nidra among Professional Students

Published In: Yoga Mimamsa
Published On: June 11, 2020
Author: Rupali Joshi

Anxiety is one’s response to stress. Its symptoms can be psychological, physical, or environmental challeng­es. Depression is a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feeling of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. Yog nidra is probably the best known technique to induce complete physical and emotional relaxation. The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of yog nidra for reducing anxiety and depression among first-year professional students.

Disclaimer: The Research Papers have been selected by the Yogavani Content Team from a Google search for ‘Benefits of yoga in depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses’