How Transcendental Meditation Helps Alleviate the “Fight-or-Flight” Response in PTSD Patients

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition a person may develop after experiencing or witnessing a distressing or terrifying event. The fight-or-flight response of people with PTSD remains overactive, causing them to mentally relive the severe trauma over time and disrupt them for life. Although clinicians don’t fully understand why and how this disorder occurs, at least one program has proved to reduce the stress in the nervous system as well as help symptoms — the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique.

How does the TM program help people with PTSD? While the body of research on this non-medical intervention is still growing, knowing more about how this meditative practice works will help you see how it can quiet the stressed mind, give deep rest to the nervous system, and  help patients find peace.

Understanding the “Fight-or-Flight” Response in PTSD

The fight-or-flight response is an unconscious action. It’s a survival mechanism best understood in mammals, particularly humans. Your senses collect information, which goes to the amygdala for processing. When it perceives danger, the amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus, which tells the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline into your bloodstream.

The adrenaline rush increases your heart rate, pushes more blood into your muscles and vital organs, widens your airways, sends more oxygen to your brain, and releases glucose and fats. These physiological changes sharpen your senses, enhancing brain alertness and supplying additional energy to help you fight the threat or flee for safety. Your hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands orchestrate another cascade of stress hormones when the adrenaline wanes and you’re still in danger. Ultimately, your body produces a surge of cortisol to remain active and on high alert. It subsides only when the threat passes.

People with PTSD have abnormal stress hormone levels even in normal situations. From another person’s point of view, they may appear to be overreacting to various stimuli. In reality, their sympathetic nervous system — the network of nerves regulating the body under stress—is constantly hyperactive.

PTSD patients struggle to put the brakes on stress and are almost always on edge, even when not exposed to anything threatening. A single trigger — like a person, object or odor reminding them of the traumatic incident — is enough to activate their fight-or-flight response. They may change their routine to stave off their intrusive thoughts, experience sleep difficulties and have nightmares.

The prolonged activation of the fight-or-flight response results in chronic stress. Being trapped in a state of worry can lead to heart disease, compromised immunity, depression and many other adverse health problems.

The Transcendental Meditation Technique — An Overview

The TM technique achieves a state of restful alertness, characterized by inner wakefulness, a quiet mind and a deeply relaxed body. During a TM session, your active mind settles inward to subtler, less concrete levels of thought until you reach transcendence — a state of pure consciousness. Concurrently, the metabolism is reduced, and your heart rate and breath slow. More than 420 studies have been published on the Transcendental Meditation technique.

Among the wide range of benefits, research shows this meditation practice has been helpful in meaningfully alleviating burnout, insomnia and anxiety among healthcare workers. These medical professionals regularly contend with various work stressors, such as the physical and emotional demands of caring for patients, exposure to human suffering and death, long and irregular hours, and sleep deprivation. In a 2022-published study, a random group of 41 healthcare workers practiced the TM technique for 20 minutes twice daily for three months while another randomized group of 39 used usual wellness resources.

Although all participants saw their mental health improved, the TM practitioners recorded a 5.4-point higher reduction in burnout severity than those who received typical treatment. The TM technique also outperformed regular insomnia and anxiety interventions by 2.2 points. These results indicate that the TM program can be effective in lessening chronic stress.

The Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique on PTSD Patients

Preliminary studies have verified the ability of the Transcendental Meditation technique to eliminate or reduce PTSD symptoms. A meta-analysis published in 2022 revealed the TM program could significantly alleviate PTSD in inmates better than control groups and other types of mantra-based meditation practices.

Clinicians reported the same findings in studies that employed a clinical assessment using the Clinically Administered PTSD Scale. One of them was a piece of research that first appeared on the Journal of Traumatic Stress in 2021. This study — which involved veterans living with PTSD — found that half of those who practiced the TM technique during a one-hour group format in 16 sessions over 12 weeks no longer met the condition’s diagnostic criteria post-test, which was 40 percentage points higher than those who belonged to a control group.

The veterans who meditated also self-reported more significant improvement in their depression, anxiety and sleep difficulties than their control counterparts. After considering the findings of similar studies, the researchers concluded that Transcendental Meditation is an alternative, well-tolerated, non-exposure-based PTSD intervention.

How does the TM program help people with PTSD? Directly, this practice neutralizes the stress hormones fueling fight-or-flight response by activating the rest-and-digest or tend-and-befriend function of the parasympathetic nervous system — the network of nerves regulating life- sustaining body processes when feeling unthreatened. The technique also allows the mind to transcend the thinking process and enliven its least excited inner state, reducing association with uncomfortable thinking patterns.

Practical Applications and Considerations

The TM technique is taught by well-trained, certified TM teachers uniformly throughout the world. It’s easy to learn in a four-part course and effortless to practice. Once you’ve learned, you will be able to schedule free follow-up meetings to enjoy desirable results successfully.

Transcend Conventional PTSD Treatment to Find Inner Peace

Living with PTSD is like being in an endless loop of trauma. While you can’t go back and undo what haunts you, you can move on and experience serenity. TM for Women is a non-profit educational organization but there is an income-based fee to take the course, which includes the lifetime follow-up program. Based on the findings of the scientific community and the endorsements of many who learned TM while suffering with PTSD, strongly consider TM for yourself because your peace of mind, happiness and life satisfaction are priceless.

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