What is PTSD?

• Exposure to actual or threatened death,

serious injury, or sexual violation, which
causes clinically significant distress or
impairment in the individual’s life moments
after the trauma.
 The Effects of PTSD
• Re-experience
• Avoidance
• Negative alterations in cognition and mood
• -Inability to recall
• -Persistent egative beliefs
• Alterations in arousal and reactivity
Remedy
 The study
• Eligible subjects were veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan
war from 18 to 65 years of age with a history of
moderately severe combat-related PTSD.

• Practice the TM technique for 20 minutes twice a day

for the duration of the study (12 weeks) without
ancillary treatment for PTSD.
• Beck Depression Index (BDI): Widely used inventory for assessing
existence and severity of symptoms of depression.

• PTS Checklist-Military (PCL-M): Assesses the severity of the DSM-IV

defined PTSD symptoms. Widely used by DOD and VA due to its high
reliability and validity.

• Clinically-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS): 30-item structured

interview that assesses, among other factors, DSM-IV defined PTSD
symptoms and their effects on social functioning. Quality of Life
Enjoyment and Satisfaction

• Questionnaire (Q-Les-Q): 93-item self-report instrument, measuring the

amount of satisfaction the patient enjoys in different areas of life. Reliable
measure for assessing aspects of mental health not covered by other
inventories.
 Conclusion?
• TM may have helped to alleviate symptoms of
PTSD and improve quality of life in veterans.
• Absence control = A placebo effect?
• Results are similar to TM treatment for Vietnam
War Veterans.

• In contrast, the group assigned to psychotherapy

did not improve significantly across those
measures.