A preliminary study of efficacy of yoga therapy in anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental health problems and often are chronic requiring ongoing medical or psychiatric care, including psychosocial therapies. Some of the non drug therapies such as Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Relaxation techniques, and bio- feed-back have proved efficacious. There has been a paucity of research on the role of yoga on anxiety disorders. Present paper examines the efficacy of yoga therapy in Anxiety Disorders and this is the preliminary findings of a long term project. Fifteen patients diagnosed suffering from Anxiety disorders (Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorders) according to ICD-10 aged between 20 to 50 years, male and female; mild-moderate categories were recruited and assessed on anxiety severity scale. 6 males and 9 females were randomly assigned to one of the three groups – medication only; medication + yoga; and yoga only. Psychological General Well-Being Schedule, Satisfaction with Life, Anxiety Status Inventory, and Hamilton Anxiety Scale were administered. The physiological parameters such as pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation, Body Mass Index were measured at base-line. A package of yoga practices designed to suit patients suffering from anxiety disorders was given. Patients were reassessed at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and at three months. Result showed significant improvement in Medicine+Yoga group while comparing with Medicine only group and Yoga only group. Even though the sample size is small, a combination of medication and yoga therapy reduced anxiety scores indicating the stabilization of mental imbalance.