THE EFFECTS OF TRANSCENDENTAL-MEDITATION COMPARED TO OTHER METHODS OFRELAXATION AND MEDITATION IN REDUCING RISK-FACTORS, MORBIDITY, AND MORTALITY

The question has been raised whether various relaxation and meditation techniques differ in their effectiveness in reducing risk factors, mo rbidity and mortality. Four recent statistical metaanalyses, which sum marize the results of several hundred studies, help to clarify this is sue; The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique was found to produce a significantly larger effect than other forms of relaxation or medit ation (on average) in - 1) reducing psychophysiological arousal during the practice; 2) decreasing trait anxiety; 3) increasing positive men tal health as operationalized by measures of self-actualization; and 4 ) reducing alcohol, nicotine and illicit drug use relative to standard treatment and prevention programs. Also, two recent randomized contro lled trials showed that the TM technique significantly reduced hyperte nsion and mortality in the elderly compared to a mental or physical re laxation technique. Two epidemiological studies showed that TM subject s had significantly lower inpatient and outpatient visits and medical expenditures than norms or comparable groups over a 5-6 year period. T he mechanisms underlying these results are discussed in terms of TM's effects on a constellation of stress related endocrine and homeostatic imbalances implicated in heart disease and other chronic illnesses.