Mechanistic Pathways of Mindfulness Meditation in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Summary

The purpose of this study is to find out how meditation influences certain systems in the body: nervous system, hormonal system, and respiratory system. Another purpose is to see how meditation may help improve post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Conditions

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Slow Breathing

The slowed breathing group will be trained on a breathing device, RESPeRATE, designed to reduce respiratory rate.They will practice with RESPeRATE once a week (for 6 weeks) in the laboratory with the research staff.

BEHAVIORAL

Meditation

The Mindfulness Body Scan meditation will be used for the mindfulness meditation group.Participants will be trained once a week (for six weeks) in the laboratory by the research staff.

BEHAVIORAL

Meditation and slow breathing

A structured Mindfulness breathing will be guided by the research staff during the lab trainings. The participant will sit upright and attempt to focus attention on his or her own breath as it passes the opening of the nostrils or on the rising and falling of the abdomen or chest. Whenever attention wanders from the breath, the participant will simply notice the distracting thought and then let it go as attention is returned to the breath. Training will be given once every week for 6 weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Sitting Quietly

The SQ control group's "intervention" will include sitting quietly and listening to a neutral-content book on tape to serve as a time and attention control at each laboratory session. They will also be asked to sit quietly at home daily.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• Oregon Health and Science University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Helane Wahbeh, ND · Oregon Health and Science University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2009-01-31

Primary Completion

2014-05-31

Completion

2014-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations