New Delhi:
Yoga, whose all-round benefits are increasingly being accepted across the
world, has now been found useful in treating mental and psychiatric disorders, a
number of scientific studies have found.
'Some believe that yoga should be used only for
prevention and health promotion and not as a therapy for illnesses,' said B.N.
Gangadhar, who heads the psychiatry department at the National Institute of
Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) here.
'The reality is that it is being increasingly
used as a method for treating various disorders, either alone or as in addition
to other therapies, including psychiatric ones,' Gangadhar, also director,
Advanced Centre for Yoga at NIMHANS, told IANS.
A study co-authored by Gangadhar and three
associates examined the effect of yoga as a therapy supplementing medical
treatment of schizophrenia, a severe mental condition, which registers failure
rates as high as 50 to 60 percent. The condition is ranked as the ninth leading
cause of mental disability worldwide.
Roughly half of 61 schizophrenia patients were
randomly assigned to yoga therapy and the other half to physical exercise for
four months. Ten from each group had dropped out during the therapy.
The yoga therapy group showed significantly
greater improvement in mental or behavioural disorders than those in the
physical exercise group. The yoga group also performed better in social and
occupational functioning.
Some of the symptoms of schizophrenia are
hallucinations (hearing voices), delusions (often bizarre) and disorganized
thinking and speech, which render the patient's life chaotic and distressful.
Another study led by Gangadhar found that
Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) significantly lowered stress by bringing down high
plasma cortisol levels among patients, which indicate stress or illness. SKY is
a method of breath control pioneered by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living
Foundation.
Similarly, M. Javanbakht, a psychiatrist at
Iran's Islamic Azad University, and others found yoga eased mental conditions
such as depression and anxiety in women.
Participants in Iran were assigned to two
groups: one that went through two yoga sessions of 90 minutes each every week
for two months and another which did not do any yoga. Women in the yoga group
registered a significant decrease in anxiety and depression levels.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM),
which includes yoga, is now being increasingly used for easing anxiety, stress
and depression. Some studies suggest that the percentage of patients availing
themselves of CAM could be as high as 60 percent, said Gangadhar.
'A functional brain imaging study at NIMHANS
demonstrated that chanting of Aum deactivated certain brain areas bearing on our
emotions, particular anger and fear, (and producing a calming effect),' said
psychiatry associate professor Shivarama Varambally.
'This indicates that Aum chanting may help in
emotional control and reduce negative emotions,' Varambally added.
Johns Hopkins University's Arthritis Centre
reports that scientific studies on the effect of yoga on rheumatoid arthritis
and osteoarthritis are 'promising,' with results showing 'some improvement in
joint health, physical functioning, and mental/ emotional well-being.'
The centre suggests that such studies show yoga
is a 'safe and effective' way to increase muscle strength and improve
flexibility, areas of core interests to arthritis sufferers. Besides, yoga can
increase mental energy and help a patient develop positive feelings and help
keep negative feelings in check.
Yoga, derived from a Sanskrit word meaning
'yoke,' is designed to integrate one's body, mind and soul so that the entire
system functions harmoniously.
'Many might argue that such a time-tested
practice does not require any proof, but contemporary medicine can accept yoga
only after thorough validation through scientific tests,' Gangadhar concluded.
Courtesy:
http://www.samachar.com/
