The Relationship Between Frequency of Yoga and Meditation on PTSD Symptoms in Individuals Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) has become a growing phenomenon in the United States, affecting nearly 13% of the population. The adverse mental health outcomes from people who experience IPV are prevalent and more than half have a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, therapeutic techniques for PTSD appear to be feasible for IPV survivors and their mental health issues. Complementary and alternative medicine has become a widely accepted approach for PTSD. Being two complementary and alternative medicine techniques, yoga and meditation are effective forms of therapy in many diagnoses, including PTSD. This study utilized a not-for-profit organization called the Purple Dot Yoga Project that helps individuals who suffer from IPV with yoga and meditation techniques. The researcher utilized their resources and collected survey information on 52 individuals who had experienced some form of IPV in their lifetime. The two hypotheses that were tested were whether higher use of yoga predicted lower PTSD scores on a PTSD Checklist in individuals who survived IPV and whether higher use of meditation predicted lower PTSD scores on a PTSD Checklist in individuals who survived IPV. Results from this study found that greater use of yoga and meditation were better predictors of lower PTSD scores in individuals who experienced IPV.
meditation, yoga, intimate partner violence, PTSD, complementary and alternative medicine, mindfulness, trauma, Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Clinical Psychology, Multicultural Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Women's Studies
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