1 745 117 EFFECT OF SAHAJ YOGA ON DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS. SAHAJ YOGA IS A MEDITATIVE TECHNIQUE THAT HAS BEEN FOUND TO HAVE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS IN SOME PSYCHO-SOMATIC ILLNESSES. THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT ON 30 CASES (19 MALES, 11 FEMALES, AGE 18-45 YEARS) OF MAJOR DEPRESSION DIAGNOSED ON THE BASIS OF DSM IV CRITERIA. THE PATIENTS WERE THEN RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: GROUP 1: (10 MALES & 5 FEMALES) PATIENTS WHO WERE PRACTISING SAHAJ YOGA AND ALSO RECEIVED CONVENTIONAL ANTI-DEPRESSANTS. GROUP 2: (9 MALES & 6 FEMALES) PATIENTS WHO WERE ONLY RECEIVING CONVENTIONAL ANTI-DEPRESSANTS. TRAINING IN SAHAJ YOGA WAS CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A TRAINED SAHAJ YOGI FOR 8 WEEKS. AT START OF THE STUDY, ALL THE PATIENTS WERE SUBJECTED TO HAMILTON RATING SCALE FOR DEPRESSION (HAM-D) AND HAMILTON RATING SCALE FOR ANXIETY (HAM-A). ABOVE SCALES WERE AGAIN ASSESSED AFTER TWO MONTHS OF TREATMENT. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN HAM-D AS WELL AS HAM-A SCORES IN BOTH GROUP 1 AND GROUP 2 PATIENTS (P<0.001). HOWEVER, PERCENTAGE IMPROVEMENT IN HAM-D SCORES AND HAM-A SCORES IN PATIENTS RECEIVING SAHAJ YOGA WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN IN GROUP 2 PATIENTS. THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WHO WENT INTO REMISSION AFTER TWO MONTHS OF INTERVENTION WERE ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN GROUP 1 PATIENTS (P=0.02). THE PRESENT STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT SAHAJ YOGA HAS GOT A POTENTIAL ROLE AS A COMPONENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS. 2005 2 1542 40 KRIYA YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES DESPITE THE EASY ACCEPTABILITY AND HOLISTIC NATURE OF KRIYA YOGA, THERE ARE NO STUDIES EVALUATING THE ROLE OF KRIYA YOGA INTERVENTION ON DEPRESSION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE CURRENT STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY AND EFFECT OF ADJUNCTIVE KRIYA YOGA ON DEPRESSION. METHODS PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER WHO OPTED FOR KRIYA YOGA WERE RECRUITED INTO THE INTERVENTION GROUP (ADJUNCTIVE KRIYA YOGA) AND THOSE ON PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION ALONE WERE ENROLLED INTO THE CONTROL GROUP. THE HAMILTON DEPRESSION RATING SCALE (HDRS) MEASUREMENTS WERE RECORDED AT BASELINE, END OF 2, 4, AND 8 WEEKS. RESULTS HDRS SCORES OF THE INTERVENTION GROUP ( N = 29) WERE FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESSER THAN THAT OF THE CONTROL GROUP ( N = 52) BY THE END OF 2, 4, AND 8 WEEKS. THE REMISSION RATE WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER IN THE INTERVENTION GROUP. CONCLUSION KRIYA YOGA INTERVENTION WAS FOUND TO BE FEASIBLE, AS WELL AS IMPROVED THE SEVERITY OF DEPRESSION. 2021 3 2119 38 THE EFFECT OF YOGA THERAPY ON SELECTED PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES AMONG MALE PATIENTS WITH INSOMNIA. BACKGROUND: AN ESTIMATED 30-50% OF THE GENERAL POPULATION IS AFFECTED BY INSOMNIA AND 10% HAVE CHRONIC INSOMNIA. YOGA THERAPY IS BENEFICIAL IN SUCH DISORDERS AND IT HAS FEWER SIDE EFFECTS. AIM: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO FIND OUT THE EFFECT OF YOGA THERAPY ON SELECTED PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES AMONG MEN WITH INSOMNIA. METHODS: FORTY MALES WITH INSOMNIA WERE DIVIDED RANDOMLY INTO 2 GROUPS (THE EXPERIMENTAL AND THE CONTROL GROUPS). THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVED EIGHT WEEKS OF YOGA THERAPY, WHILE THE CONTROL GROUP DID NOT RECEIVE ANY THERAPY. THE PRE AND POST TREATMENT STRESS AND THE SELF CONFIDENCE SCORES WERE TAKEN. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE STRESS SCORES AND THE SELF CONFIDENCE SCORES IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. THERE WERE NEITHER ANY SIDE EFFECTS NOR ANY DROP OUTS. CONCLUSION: WE CONCLUDE THAT YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OPTION FOR THE PATIENTS WITH INSOMNIA. THERE ARE NO MAJOR SIDE EFFECTS. 2013 4 91 39 A MULTICOMPONENT YOGA-BASED, BREATH INTERVENTION PROGRAM AS AN ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER WITH OR WITHOUT COMORBIDITIES. OBJECTIVES: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) COURSE IN GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD) OUTPATIENTS, WHO AFTER EIGHT WEEKS OF AN APPROPRIATE DOSE OF TRADITIONAL THERAPY HAD NOT YET ACHIEVED REMISSION. SUBJECTS: THE ADULT PARTICIPANTS (18-65 YEARS) WERE OUTPATIENTS WITH A PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS OF GAD WITH OR WITHOUT COMORBIDITIES ON THE MINI-INTERNATIONAL NEUROPSYCHIATRIC INTERVIEW (MINI). PARTICIPANTS HAD A MINIMUM OF EIGHT WEEKS STANDARD TREATMENT WITH AN APPROPRIATE DOSE OF A STANDARD PRESCRIPTION ANXIOLYTIC, A CLINICIAN GLOBAL IMPRESSION-SEVERITY (CGI-S) SCORE OF 5-7, A HAMILTON ANXIETY SCALE (HAM-A) TOTAL SCORE >/=20 INCLUDING A SCORE OF >2 ON THE ANXIOUS MOOD AND TENSION ITEMS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FORTY-ONE PATIENTS WERE ENROLLED IN AN OPEN-LABEL TRIAL OF THE SKY COURSE AS AN ADJUNCT TO STANDARD TREATMENT OF GAD AT THE START CLINIC FOR MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS, A TERTIARY CARE MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDER CLINIC IN TORONTO. THE SKY COURSE WAS ADMINISTERED OVER FIVE DAYS (22 H TOTAL). SUBJECTS WERE ENCOURAGED TO PRACTICE THE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES AT HOME FOR 20 MIN PER DAY AFTER THE COURSE AND WERE OFFERED GROUP PRACTICE SESSIONS FOR 2 H ONCE A WEEK LED BY CERTIFIED YOGA INSTRUCTORS. THE PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE WAS THE MEAN CHANGE FROM PRE-TREATMENT ON THE HAM-A SCALE. PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES WERE OBTAINED AT BASELINE AND FOUR WEEKS AFTER COMPLETING THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: THIRTY-ONE PATIENTS COMPLETED THE PROGRAM (MEAN AGE 42.6 +/- 13.3 YEARS). AMONG COMPLETERS, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS OCCURRED IN THE PRE- AND POST-INTERVENTION MEAN HAM-A TOTAL SCORE (T=4.59; P<0.01) AND PSYCHIC SUBSCALE (T=5.00; P