Effectiveness of Rajyoga meditation as an adjunct to first-line treatment in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

BACKGROUND

Yoga is a set of mental, physical, and spiritual practices with its origin in ancient India. The renewed interest in Yoga has led to the exploration of its benefits in a variety of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders. There is a dearth of literature on the effect of yoga in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in the Indian context.

AIM

The present study was conducted to find out the efficacy of Rajyoga meditation (RM) as an adjunct to the first-line treatment in the treatment of OCD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients with OCD (diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition) were divided into two groups - (i) The meditation group (MG), which included 28 patients and (ii) The nonmeditative group (NMG), which included 22 patients. MG practiced RM protocol for 3 months duration in addition to the pharmacological treatment. The NMG continued on pharmacological management as usual. The symptomatology was assessed at baseline and 3 months using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).

RESULTS

At 3 months, both groups demonstrated improvement in symptoms. The improvement in MG was statistically significant with a change of 9.0 ± 3.16 in Y-BOCS and a 49.76 ± 9.52% reduction in symptoms. Improvement scores of NMG were also statistically significant with a change of 3.13 ± 2.59 in Y-BOCS and 18.09 ± 14.69% reduction in symptoms. MG showed significantly more improvement in Y-BOCS scores (49.76 ± 9.52) as compared to NMG (18.09 ± 14.69) using the student's paired t-test (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that the RM is an effective adjunctive therapy to reduce obsessions and compulsions in patients with OCD.

The Effectiveness of Rajyoga Meditation as an Adjuvant for Panic Anxiety Syndrome

Objective

One of the most prevalent psychiatric conditions that affect a person's quality of life, ability to function and productivity, and consequently the loss of national income, are anxiety disorders. Rajyoga meditation (RM) is a form of meditation that is performed without rituals or mantras and can be practiced anywhere at any time. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the modulation of psycho-physiological parameters in panic disorder patients by a technique of short-term on RM.

Methods

In this prospective randomized control study, 110 patients with panic disorder were randomized into two groups, Group A (standard treatment + RM) and Group B (Standard treatment). The participants of both group participants were subjected to sleep quality score, Physical Health Questionnaire-9 score, Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) questionnaires before starting the study (baseline) and at the end of the 8th week. Study groups were compared at baseline and at the end of 8 weeks.

Results

We found that the PDSS/HAM-A was not statistically different among the study groups at baseline (P > 0.05); however, there was a statistically significant difference in mean z-scores of PDSS and post-HAM-A scores among the study groups at 8 weeks (P < 0.001). The composite score was created by adding the z-scores of pre- and post-PDSS and HAM-A. We found a statistically significant difference in postcomposite scores between the study groups (P < 0.001). Analysis of co-variance for PDSS and HAM-A among study groups showed statistical significance (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

When used in conjunction with pharmaceutical treatments for the treatment of panic disorder, RM is a successful therapy. The key factors are adherence and motivation while being supervised by a licensed therapist.

Changes in high-order interaction measures of synergy and redundancy during non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by meditation, hypnosis, and auto-induced cognitive trance

High-order interactions are required across brain regions to accomplish specific cognitive functions. These functional interdependencies are reflected by synergistic information that can be obtained by combining the information from all the sources considered and redundant information (i.e., common information provided by all the sources). However, electroencephalogram (EEG) functional connectivity is limited to pairwise interactions thereby precluding the estimation of high-order interactions. In this multicentric study, we used measures of synergistic and redundant information to study in parallel the high-order interactions between five EEG electrodes during three non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs): Rajyoga meditation (RM), hypnosis, and auto-induced cognitive trance (AICT). We analyzed EEG data from 22 long-term Rajyoga meditators, nine volunteers undergoing hypnosis, and 21 practitioners of AICT. We here report the within-group changes in synergy and redundancy for each NSC in comparison with their respective baseline. During RM, synergy increased at the whole brain level in the delta and theta bands. Redundancy decreased in frontal, right central, and posterior electrodes in delta, and frontal, central, and posterior electrodes in beta1 and beta2 bands. During hypnosis, synergy decreased in mid-frontal, temporal, and mid-centro-parietal electrodes in the delta band. The decrease was also observed in the beta2 band in the left frontal and right parietal electrodes. During AICT, synergy decreased in delta and theta bands in left-frontal, right-frontocentral, and posterior electrodes. The decrease was also observed at the whole brain level in the alpha band. However, redundancy changes during hypnosis and AICT were not significant. The subjective reports of absorption and dissociation during hypnosis and AICT, as well as the mystical experience questionnaires during AICT, showed no correlation with the high-order measures. The proposed study is the first exploratory attempt to utilize the concepts of synergy and redundancy in NSCs. The differences in synergy and redundancy during different NSCs warrant further studies to relate the extracted measures with the phenomenology of the NSCs.

Psychological problems and burnout among healthcare workers: Impact of non-pharmacological lifestyle interventions

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate role of rajyoga meditation (RYM) versus stress management counselling (SMC) in addressing burnout syndrome and resultant improvement in electrocardiogram (ECG) so as to automate burnout prediction from raw ECG data with machine learning (ML).

METHODS

Healthcare providers were assigned to two groups: RYM (n = 100) or SMC (n = 102). Subjects in RYM received rajyoga for 3 months including one week offline and thereafter, virtual mode. SMC group received counselling for 1 day in offline mode and thereafter, received positive thoughts on a weekly basis. All subjects were assessed for psychological (depression, anxiety, stress scale-21 (DASS-21) and burnout syndrome (Mini Z questionnaire) along with 12-lead ECG at baseline after 4 weeks, and after 12 weeks. Based on response on question 3 of the Mini-Z questionnaire, participants were classified either as burnout or satisfied.

RESULTS

RYM group showed significant reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress in comparison to SMC group. Burnout results display significant reduction in the RYM group in comparison to SMC group. Reduction in burnout and enhancement in satisfaction from visit-1 to visit-3: burnout visit-1 (27.2 %), visit-2 (23.8 %), visit-3 (19.3 %) and, satisfaction visit-1 (72.8 %), visit-2 (76.2 %), and visit-3 (80.7 %). ML algorithms could identify burnout patients using the raw ECG data with time-series features based classifier performing better than Ultra Short HRV features based ML classifier model.

CONCLUSION

AI based early diagnosis of heart's healthy status using ECG analysis may prevent development of cardiovascular disorder in the long run.