Examining the Effects of Meditation Techniques on Psychosocial Functioning

Abstract

Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of chanting the maha mantra on stress, depression, and the three gunas—sattva (enlightenment), rajas (passion), and tamas (inertia)—described in the Vedas as the basis of human psychology. Primary hypotheses of the study were that the maha mantra group would increase sattva and decrease stress, depression, rajas, and tamas significantly more than the other groups. Method: Participants were tested at pretest, posttest, and follow-up, with testing times separated by 4 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to a maha mantra group, an alternate mantra (placebo) group, and a control group. Results: MANOVA results supported these hypotheses from pretest to posttest at p < .05 for all dependent variables except rajas. Conclusions: The authors suggest that the maha mantra has potential in addressing problems related to stress and depression and that it be considered as one possible component of a spiritual approach to social work practice.

Living with HIV: Responses to a Mantram Intervention Using the Critical Incident Research Method

“…Coleman and colleagues 13,36 found that prayer was used as a self-care strategy for managing HIV-related symptoms, including depression, fatigue, and nausea. Wolf and Abell 37 found that repetition of the mantra compared to a placebo mantra or notreatment control resulted in decreased depression and anxiety in adults.…”

Further Exploration of the Vedic Personality Inventory: Validity, Reliability and Generalizability

“…Thus, these subscales are appropriately nonorthogonal. Wolf and Abell (2003) utilized the Vedic scale in an experiment with mantra chanting, a Vedic practice. Utilizing this traditional Eastern spiritual practice as an independent variable, they studied the effects of Hare Krishna mantra meditation on stress, depression, and the three Modes of Nature.…”

The Emerging Role of Meditation in Addressing Psychiatric Illness, with a Focus on Substance Use Disorders

“…While the evidence for its efficacy is preliminary and inconclusive at present, meditation’s possible benefits may include ameliorating depression, 9 improving anxiety, 10 promoting abstinence from drugs of abuse, 11,12 and reducing the self-injurious behaviors of personality disordered patients. 13 In this review, the available literature on the role of meditation in addressing psychiatric illness, and specifically substance use disorders, will be addressed.…”