Assessing the Impact of Isha Kriya Meditation on Anxiety and Depression - a Pilot Study

NCT ID: NCT05065476

Last Updated: 2022-12-05

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

267 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-05-01

Study Completion Date

2021-11-30

Brief Summary

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This study aims to assess the impact of Isha Kriya, a freely available guided meditation, on mental health - specifically anxiety and depression.

Detailed Description

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In 2019, over 15% of the population experienced symptoms of anxiety. This was highest amongst 18-29-year-olds. Amongst these adults, 9.5% experienced mild, 3.4% experienced moderate, and 2.7% experienced severe symptoms of anxiety. About 1 in 6 adults is expected to suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Due to the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression increased significantly. In December 2020, 42% of people surveyed by the US Census Bureau had symptoms associated with anxiety or depression. This is compared to 11% of adults having similar symptoms from Jan-June 2019. The rapidly diminishing mental health in the general population, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised the concern for an emerging new pandemic: the mental health pandemic. Mental health leaders and organizations are urging the federal and state authorities to make mental health a top priority and allocate resources to areas including early identification and prevention, establishing integrated health and mental health care to ensure "whole-person" well-being, assuring evidence-based standards of prevention, treatment and care.

Meditation has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. A recent study using a meditation called Isha Kriya showed improved perceived stress amongst operating room professionals in one sitting. Isha Kriya is a simple meditation practice (15minutes) that can be done by anyone over 12 years of age. It is offered free globally via in-person sessions, online webinars, and online videos. A meditation which is available electronically and freely could be an attractive option to include in prevention and treatment strategies for anxiety and depression. Furthermore, such intervention is easily scalable and accessible to everyone with access to the internet and if found effective, can be a valuable resource for addressing disparities in access to mental health resources in minority and underserved populations. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of this meditation on reducing symptoms associated with anxiety and depression over 6 weeks.

Conditions

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Anxiety Depression

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

OTHER

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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Study Group

Participants signed up for the webinar will be learning and practicing the "Isha Kriya" practice (meditation for beginners) taught by the Isha Foundation.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age 18-70 years
* Interest in Isha Kriya

Exclusion Criteria

* Low English proficiency
* Not currently residing in United States
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

70 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Balachundhar Subramaniam

Professor of Anesthesia

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Sepideh Hariri, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Locations

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Terlizzi EP, Villarroel MA. Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Among Adults: United States, 2019. NCHS Data Brief. 2020 Sep;(378):1-8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33054928 (View on PubMed)

Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;62(6):593-602. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15939837 (View on PubMed)

Abbott A. COVID's mental-health toll: how scientists are tracking a surge in depression. Nature. 2021 Feb;590(7845):194-195. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00175-z. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33536600 (View on PubMed)

Saeed SA, Cunningham K, Bloch RM. Depression and Anxiety Disorders: Benefits of Exercise, Yoga, and Meditation. Am Fam Physician. 2019 May 15;99(10):620-627.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31083878 (View on PubMed)

Saeed SA, Antonacci DJ, Bloch RM. Exercise, yoga, and meditation for depressive and anxiety disorders. Am Fam Physician. 2010 Apr 15;81(8):981-6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20387774 (View on PubMed)

Gonzalez-Valero G, Zurita-Ortega F, Ubago-Jimenez JL, Puertas-Molero P. Use of Meditation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for the Treatment of Stress, Depression and Anxiety in Students. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Nov 10;16(22):4394. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16224394.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31717682 (View on PubMed)

Rangasamy V, Thampi Susheela A, Mueller A, F H Chang T, Sadhasivam S, Subramaniam B. The effect of a one-time 15-minute guided meditation (Isha Kriya) on stress and mood disturbances among operating room professionals: a prospective interventional pilot study. F1000Res. 2019 Mar 26;8:335. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.18446.1. eCollection 2019.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32665843 (View on PubMed)

Hariri S, Vishnubhotla RV, Reed PU, Rayapuraju A, Orui H, Balachundhar P, Sadhasivam S, Subramaniam B. Online guided meditation training (Isha Kriya) improves self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression within 2 weeks of practice-An observational study. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Sep 23;13:944973. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.944973. eCollection 2022.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 36213913 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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2021P000359

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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