Depression

Sandra Utz et al. (2025) · Biomedicines

This prospective observational study followed 101 adults with long-standing fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) through a two-week integrative inpatient stay in Bamberg, Germany, with no control group. FMS is a chronic condition marked by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety and depression, and the authors describe it as the third most common rheumatic disease. The program was built on classical European naturopathy: water-based therapies and heat, exercise, plant-based nutrition or medical fasting, herbal remedies and mind-body practices such as relaxation. The question was whether such a combined approach would ease symptoms at discharge and six months later. Of 134 patients who joined (127 women, ages 22 to 80), 101 returned questionnaires on admission, at discharge and after six months. During the stay they took part in meditative movement, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, lectures and cooking classes, and some had whole-body heat sessions or a 5-day fast on under 300 kcal a day. Pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, stress and quality of life were measured with standard questionnaires (such as the HADS for anxiety and depression and the MFI-20 for fatigue) and compared over time with repeated-measures statistics. Overall pain intensity dropped from 71.5 to 63.0 on a 0-100 scale at discharge (a moderate effect, dz = 0.62) and was still lower at six months (64.4). Current pain fell sharply during the stay (6.56 to 4.37 out of 10) but crept back to 5.96 at six months. Fatigue improved from 71.1 to 63.3 and then partly returned (68.0). Anxiety and depression scores each fell by roughly 2.5 points at discharge and were still lower than baseline at six months. Stress and feelings of helplessness improved mainly after discharge, and mental quality of life rose between discharge and follow-up. Patients who fasted kept their pain gains at six months (p = 0.006), whereas non-fasters did not (p = 0.062), although this difference was borderline (interaction p = 0.050) and not randomised. The results come from an uncontrolled, single-centre sample in which a quarter of the participants did not complete the six-month questionnaire, so the changes cannot be attributed to the program alone. More than half the patients reported obstacles to continuing the methods at home, such as lack of time and exhaustion. The authors call for randomised trials with long-term follow-up and propose a follow-up day-clinic programme to help consolidate the learned self-management skills and everyday routines.

Lolita Rapolienė et al. (2026) · BMC complementary medicine and therapies

This multicenter randomized controlled trial of 243 analyzed adults in Lithuania explored whether a short course of balneotherapy, a spa-based therapy using mineral water, therapeutic mud and salt, eases stress, anxiety and depression. Balneotherapy has a long tradition in European spa towns and is increasingly discussed as a complementary approach to stress-related mental health problems. The researchers wanted to know whether an 11-day standardized program works, whether adding a nature walk or an inpatient stay changes the results, and whether benefits last six months. Adults aged 18 to 65 who rated their stress as moderate to high were assigned to one of four groups: outpatient balneotherapy (64 people), outpatient balneotherapy plus nature therapy (63), an inpatient balneotherapy stay (64), or a no-treatment control group (52). The daily program combined a pool session with light exercise, a warm mineral water bath, a 20-minute sapropel mud wrap and 25 minutes of salt therapy. Questionnaires measured stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep and daily functioning, and saliva samples tracked the stress hormone cortisol, at baseline, right after treatment, and after 3 and 6 months. Right after treatment, people in all three spa groups reported clear improvements. Stress intensity dropped by about 2.6 points on a 10-point scale (p < 0.001), and depression scores fell by 10.7 to 12.5 points on an 80-point scale (p < 0.001), compared with a 1.3-point change in the control group (p = 0.253, no real change). Anxiety, fatigue and sleep problems improved too: fatigue fell by 4.1 to 5.1 points on the 10-50 Fatigue Assessment Scale (p < 0.001) while the control group did not change (p = 0.775), sleep quality rose by about 2 points on a 10-point scale (p < 0.001), and cortisol fell significantly in two of the three groups. Many gains were still present at six months, strongest after the inpatient stay. About 15% of participants had mild skin reactions to the mineral water, and no serious adverse events occurred. The authors suggest balneotherapy could be a safe complementary option for stress. Important limits apply: the paper reports mainly within-group changes rather than direct group comparisons, controls received no treatment, participants knew what they were getting, many people dropped out by six months, spa resources differed by center, and some questionnaires were not formally validated in Lithuanian. The control group also reported lower stress intensity (-1.18 points, p < 0.001), which shows that part of the improvement occurred without treatment. Larger, longer trials are recommended.

Valérie Dormal et al. (2025) · Nutrients

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 180 adults in Belgium asked whether two plant extracts, saffron and Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), help people with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms, alone or together. Saffron's compounds crocin and safranal are thought to keep the brain chemicals norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin active for longer, a mechanism similar to common antidepressants. Skullcap's flavonoids, mainly baicalin, had shown calming and mood-lifting effects in animal studies, but had never been tested for mood in people. The researchers also wanted to see whether combining the two gave extra benefit. Participants aged 18 to 75, all with a recent depressive episode and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores of 14 to 28, were split into four groups of 42 to 48. For six weeks each person took one capsule every morning: 30 mg saffron extract, 20 mg skullcap extract, both together, or a placebo of 450 mg maltodextrin. Depression was scored with the BDI and the clinician-rated Hamilton scale, anxiety with the STAI-S, and mood and well-being with PANAS, WHO-5 and other short questionnaires at weeks 0, 3, 6 and 8. Everyone improved, including the placebo group: BDI fell significantly in all four groups (p < 0.001), with no difference between them. Differences appeared only in the second half of treatment. Between week 3 and week 6, depression scores kept dropping in the saffron group (-2.4 points, p = 0.036) and combination group (-3.5 points, p = 0.004) but not placebo, and the Hamilton score fell more with saffron than placebo (p = 0.024). Anxiety fell in all three active groups, and well-being (WHO-5) rose more with skullcap and the combination than placebo. Compliance was about 99% in every group, and two weeks after stopping, scores had mostly held steady. The authors attribute the large placebo gains partly to participants being engaged in a study that encouraged them to talk about their problems and act to improve their well-being. Side effects were mostly minor, such as headaches and gastrointestinal complaints. The authors suggest saffron, skullcap and their combination may help mood, and propose a synergistic effect. The strong placebo response, scarce between-group differences, six-week duration, self-report measures and exclusion of severe depression limit how far the results reach. An author works for an ingredient supplier, and whether the findings extend beyond French-speaking adults at one Belgian center is not established. Longer trials, higher doses, severe depression and objective biomarkers such as stress hormones or neurotransmitter levels are recommended for future work, since long-term safety remains unestablished.

Hamed Delam et al. (2023) · BMC complementary medicine and therapies

This randomized controlled trial of 72 postmenopausal women in Iran asked a simple question: does drinking saffron tea every day make women feel happier? Menopause marks the end of menstruation and fertility, and falling estrogen levels combined with changes in family roles and aging are linked in the paper to low mood, anxiety and depression. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), a spice from the dried stigmas of a purple crocus flower, contains crocin and safranal, compounds that laboratory work suggests affect the brain chemicals dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which govern mood and motivation. The 72 women, averaging about 54 years old, were recruited through community health centers in Larestan, Iran, in 2021 and randomly placed into two groups of 36. One group drank a cup of saffron tea each morning for six weeks, made by steeping 30 mg of dried stigmas in 300 ml of hot water and served with white rock candy. The comparison group drank lukewarm water with rock candy. Happiness was measured with the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, a 29-item survey scored from 29 to 116, at the start and after two, four and six weeks. Both groups began at almost the same level (about 43 points). The saffron group climbed steadily to 51.4 after two weeks, 55.5 after four weeks and 61.6 after six weeks (a rise of roughly 19 points, p < 0.001, meaning the change is very unlikely to be chance). The water group did not move, ending at 42.8 (p = 0.861, no real change). The gap between groups at week six was statistically significant (p < 0.001), and it held after the researchers adjusted for demographic variables. The paper does not report any side effects data, only that the dose was small. The authors suggest saffron tea may be useful as a complementary approach alongside conventional care. The study has clear limits: participants knew which drink they received, happiness was self-reported, only 72 women from one region took part, the trial lasted six weeks, and it overlapped with a COVID-19 wave in Iran. Depression was not measured directly, and how saffron might produce the effect was not tested. The authors recommend larger trials in other populations and research into the mechanism.

Zheping Quan et al. (2026) · Frontiers in immunology

This systematic review and network meta-analysis of 16 randomized controlled trials (943 participants) explored which forms of exercise are linked to better outcomes in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is a functional gut disorder, meaning the bowel looks normal on testing but causes recurring abdominal pain and altered bowel habits, and it often occurs alongside anxiety and depression. The authors framed the gut and brain as communicating through the brain-gut axis, with the immune system, intestinal barrier and gut microbiota also involved. A network meta-analysis is a statistical method that compares several treatments at once, even when some were never tested head to head, and ranks them using SUCRA, a percentage score where higher values mean a greater chance of being best. The included trials, published between 2004 and 2025, tested yoga, Pilates, Baduanjin (a traditional Chinese gentle movement routine), running and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 4 to 24 weeks. Participants were adults with constipation-predominant, diarrhea-predominant or mixed IBS, mostly in Asia, Europe and North America. Comparison groups received conventional treatment, dietary advice, probiotics or education. Researchers measured symptom severity with the IBS Symptom Severity Scale, quality of life with the IBS Quality of Life scale, and mood with anxiety and depression scores. Exercise improved several outcomes. Depression scores fell overall (SMD -0.56, a moderate-sized benefit), though heterogeneity was very high (I2 = 95%, meaning results varied widely between trials), and yoga alone was not significant. Anxiety dropped with yoga (SMD -1.82), Pilates (SMD -3.84) and aerobic exercise (SMD -6.31). Symptom severity improved with running (MD -72.68 points), Pilates (-71.32), aerobic exercise (-46.50) and Baduanjin (-16.94), with running ranked first (SUCRA 90.3%). Quality of life ranked Baduanjin first (99.9%) and yoga second (80.1%), while aerobic exercise showed no significant difference from conventional treatment. In subscale analyses, Pilates cut pain severity (MD -17.90) and aerobic exercise improved dysphoria, activity interference, body image, health worries and relationships, while yoga helped only bowel satisfaction and interference with life. Rankings differed by outcome, which the authors describe as functional specificity. The authors describe exercise as a safe, low-cost non-pharmacological option that may hold value in comprehensive IBS management, but the evidence carries clear limits. Heterogeneity was high, many trials did not clearly blind participants or assessors, and some effect sizes were unusually large, which the authors attribute to small samples. Study counts were reported inconsistently across sections, and safety was not analysed. Too few trials came from outside East Asia to judge differences across ethnic groups. The immune mechanisms remain unproven, and the authors call for trials that add immune markers, biomarkers and gut microbiome measures.

Barbara Olasov Rothbaum et al. (2012) · Biological psychiatry

This randomized pilot study with 137 civilian trauma patients explored whether starting psychotherapy within hours of a traumatic event, before the memory of the event fully consolidates (the process by which an experience becomes a stable, long-term memory), could prevent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from developing. The intervention was a modified version of prolonged exposure (PE), a therapy that reduces conditioned fear responses by having a person repeatedly revisit a feared memory in a safe setting until the fear response diminishes, a process known as fear extinction. Because most PTSD treatments begin only after symptoms are already established, this trial tested the therapy as prevention rather than as treatment of chronic illness. Participants were adults aged 18 to 65 who arrived at a Level One trauma center emergency department within 72 hours of a qualifying trauma; 137 were randomly assigned to three one-hour sessions of modified PE, delivered one week apart and beginning in the emergency department, or to assessment only. The modified PE sessions involved guided recounting of the trauma memory, discussion of the traumatic experience, and take-home exposure exercises. Blinded evaluators measured posttraumatic stress severity with a structured clinical interview (the PSS-I) and depression with a standard self-report questionnaire (the BDI-II) at 4 and 12 weeks after enrollment. Participants who received the intervention reported significantly lower posttraumatic stress severity than the assessment-only group at 4 weeks (19.09 vs. 24.54 points, p = 0.02 for the overall treatment effect) and 12 weeks (15.47 vs. 20.33 points), representing a medium-sized benefit (Cohen's d of 0.34 to 0.38, a standard measure of effect strength where 0.2 is considered small and 0.8 is considered large). By 12 weeks, significantly more intervention participants no longer met PTSD criteria than controls (74% vs. 53%, p = 0.04). Depression scores at 4 weeks were also significantly lower in the intervention group (p < 0.01, d = 0.35). The benefit was largest among rape victims, who showed a large effect (d = 0.70) at 4 weeks, notable because sexual assault carries among the highest known risk of developing PTSD. The intervention did not significantly reduce symptoms tied to participants' earlier, unrelated traumas, suggesting its effect was specific to the event that brought them to the emergency department. The findings suggest that exposure-based psychotherapy can be safely delivered within hours of trauma, in an emergency department, before a traumatic memory becomes consolidated. The authors note important limitations: no baseline PTSD measure was collected, since assessing symptoms so soon after trauma was judged invalid, so only between-group comparisons were possible; the sample was pilot-sized and not powered for smaller effects; and roughly a quarter to a third of participants did not complete follow-up assessments. The authors describe the results as establishing feasibility and call for larger replication trials.

Milou L V Covers et al. (2021) · European journal of psychotraumatology

This randomized controlled trial with 57 recent rape victims explored whether early eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy reduces post-traumatic stress more effectively than watchful waiting, the standard wait-and-monitor approach used at Dutch sexual assault centres. EMDR is a trauma-focused psychotherapy in which a therapist guides bilateral eye movements while the person recalls a distressing memory, aiming to reduce the memory's vividness and emotional charge. Watchful waiting, by contrast, involves brief check-ins, psychoeducation, and emotional support without active trauma processing. About 40% of rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within three months, making the timing and content of early support clinically significant. Fifty-seven participants (56 women, one man; average age about 26) were randomly assigned, between two and four weeks after a rape, to either two sessions of EMDR therapy (3.5 hours total, using a protocol adapted for very recent trauma) or two brief supportive phone calls with a case manager. Symptoms were measured before treatment, right after treatment, and again at 8 and 12 weeks using clinician-rated and self-report scales covering post-traumatic stress (CAPS-5, PCL-5), anxiety and depression (HADS), dissociation (DTS), general psychological symptoms (BSI), and sexual functioning (FSFI, AOPFS). Both groups improved substantially over the 12 weeks (large effect sizes, Cohen's d around 1.5, meaning both approaches were followed by a large drop in symptoms), but EMDR was not more effective than watchful waiting for post-traumatic stress symptoms at any time point (no statistically significant difference, p > .05 throughout). EMDR did show a short-lived edge over watchful waiting on anxiety (a 2.25-point lower score on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale immediately after treatment, p = .023) and on dissociative symptoms (p = .013), but both advantages faded by the 12-week follow-up. No meaningful differences emerged between the two approaches for depression, general psychological symptoms, sexual functioning, or feelings of guilt and shame. By 12 weeks, fewer EMDR participants still met PTSD diagnostic criteria than watchful-waiting participants (16% versus 35%), though this difference was not formally tested for significance. One EMDR participant left the study after an increase in suicidal thoughts and received care; the treatment was otherwise well tolerated. The authors conclude that two sessions of early EMDR conferred no lasting advantage over watchful waiting for recent rape victims and, given its lower cost, state that the findings support existing guidance favoring watchful waiting as the default early response. The comparison involved an active watchful-waiting condition rather than no treatment, so the trial cannot show whether either approach outperforms natural recovery. The sample was small, mostly female, and experienced considerable dropout (21 of 57 participants), limiting how far the results generalize to other populations. The authors call for further research into watchful waiting's own effectiveness as an early intervention.

Lei Yi et al. (2022) · Journal of translational medicine

This randomized controlled trial with 94 women explored whether a 12-week yoga program could ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, a condition marked by intrusive memories, avoidance of reminders, and heightened arousal following a traumatic event) after a motor vehicle accident. All participants had PTSD tied specifically to a car, motorcycle, or pedestrian accident that occurred at least three months earlier. The intervention used Kripalu yoga, a style emphasizing gentle self-observation and the connection between mind and body rather than intensive physical exertion, compared against an active control condition built around social conversation and board games. Ninety-four women were randomly assigned to a yoga group (47) or control group (47); 37 and 39, respectively, completed the trial through a 3-month follow-up. The yoga group attended six 45-minute sessions across 12 weeks, practicing breath awareness, body-focused attention during postures, and tolerance of physical discomfort under a yoga instructor's guidance. The control group met on the same schedule for daily-life conversation and games. Psychological distress was measured with two self-report instruments, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), completed at baseline, immediately after the program, and three months later. After the program, the yoga group's total IES-R score, covering intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms, was significantly lower than the control group's (p = 0.01, meaning the difference was unlikely due to chance), with the difference concentrated in intrusion (p = 0.002) and avoidance (p < 0.001) rather than hyperarousal, which did not differ significantly. Intrusion and avoidance remained significantly lower in the yoga group three months later (p = 0.037 and p = 0.005). On the DASS-21, total distress scores were significantly lower in the yoga group both immediately after the program (p = 0.043) and at three-month follow-up (p = 0.024), with depression (p = 0.033, then p = 0.004) and anxiety (p < 0.001, then p = 0.035) each significantly reduced compared with control. The stress subscale of the DASS-21 showed no significant difference between groups at either timepoint. Both groups improved somewhat over time, including the control group, which the authors attribute partly to the social contact built into the comparison condition. The authors describe the results as preliminary evidence that a structured yoga program reduced depression, anxiety, and the intrusion and avoidance symptoms of PTSD in women following a motor vehicle accident, while finding no measurable effect on stress or hyperarousal. The trial enrolled a relatively small, single-site sample of Chinese women, tested only one yoga style, and relied entirely on self-report questionnaires rather than clinician-rated diagnostic measures. The authors point to comparing yoga styles and isolating which specific session components drive symptom change as directions for future research.

Peter J Bayley et al. (2022) · BMJ open

This parallel-group, randomised non-inferiority trial with 85 military veterans explored whether Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) -- a structured program of breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation -- works as well as cognitive processing therapy (CPT), a standard trauma-focused psychotherapy, for reducing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. PTSD is a condition that can develop after a traumatic event, involving re-experiencing, avoidance, and heightened arousal. A non-inferiority design tests whether a new approach is not meaningfully worse than an established one, rather than whether it is better, which is appropriate when the existing treatment is already known to be effective. Veterans (88% men, average age 57) with elevated PTSD symptom scores were randomly assigned to SKY (n=41) or CPT (n=44) at a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic. SKY was taught in small groups over a five-day intensive workshop plus ten weekly sessions (25 hours total), combining five distinct breathing techniques with meditation. CPT consisted of twelve individual sessions over six weeks (12 hours), focused on shifting trauma-related thinking patterns. Symptom severity was measured with the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), alongside depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) and mood (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). Both treatments reduced PTSD symptoms by the end of six weeks (CPT: -6.8 points, effect size d=0.58; SKY: -5.6 points, d=0.41), and the small gap between them (-1.2 points, 95% CI -5.7 to 3.3) fell safely within the study's 10-point margin for calling SKY "not meaningfully worse" -- a pattern that held at 1 month and 1 year. SKY also matched CPT on depression and mood scores through the 1-month mark, though CPT pulled ahead on both by 1 year. Dropout was similar overall (SKY 27% vs CPT 34%), and among veterans who attended at least one session, fewer left SKY (9%) than CPT (29%). Two adverse events occurred in the CPT group (treatment-related distress; a hospital admission for suicidal ideation); none were reported in the SKY group. The authors describe these results as preliminary support for SKY as a non-trauma-focused option for veterans with PTSD symptoms, comparable in the short term to an established first-line therapy. They note SKY involved roughly twice the contact time of CPT, the trial ran at a single site with a moderate sample of 85 participants, and CPT's own effect size was smaller here than in some earlier veteran studies. The authors state that SKY warrants further clinical and research attention.

Waqar Husain et al. (2026) · Brain and behavior

This systematic review of 105 studies examined how religious and spiritual practices -- meditation, prayer, chanting, ritual, and mystical experience -- show up in brain scans. It pooled evidence across eight traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Santo Daime, Spiritism, Sant Mat, and mixed traditions) and seven brain-imaging methods, filling a gap left by earlier reviews that each covered only one practice or one faith. Neurotheology, the scientific study of how spiritual experience relates to brain function, asks whether these ancient practices leave a measurable, functional signature on the nervous system. Researchers searched three major databases from their earliest records through mid-2026 and found 450 candidate studies; after removing duplicates and screening for eligibility, 105 studies remained. Each had to study real human participants using an objective brain-measurement tool -- functional or structural MRI, EEG, MEG, PET, SPECT, or similar -- during an actual religious, spiritual, or contemplative practice, not passive exposure to religious words or images. Because the studies varied enormously in tradition, practice, and method, the team combined findings narratively rather than statistically averaging them. Meditation studies (the largest group, 35 studies) consistently found quieter activity in the brain's default mode network, the circuit active during mind-wandering and self-focused thought, alongside more efficient attention-related brain activity in long-term practitioners. Prayer (21 studies) activated brain regions used for understanding other people's minds when prayer was personal and improvised, suggesting the brain treats sincere prayer like a real conversation, and activated reward circuitry during peak spiritual feelings among some worshippers. Chanting and recitation (25 studies) calmed emotional brain circuits -- OM chanting, for example, reduced activity along the same pathway targeted by an approved medical nerve-stimulation therapy. Mental-health-relevant findings (14 studies) included a randomized trial in which loving-kindness meditation eased depression symptoms in diagnosed patients, and a mindfulness program that lowered stress-hormone levels months later. Eleven studies of unusual states -- near-death imagery, ayahuasca ceremonies, and trance -- showed the most widespread brain-network changes of any practice type. The review's authors state plainly that religious and spiritual practices are neurologically real, measurable behaviors, not just subjective reports, and that the brain circuits they engage overlap with those disrupted in depression, anxiety, and addiction. They stop short of claiming these practices treat any diagnosed condition, since most studies involved healthy volunteers rather than patients. The search covered only English-language, peer-reviewed studies, and the wide variety of traditions and methods meant the team could describe patterns but not calculate a single combined effect size.

Hong Xu et al. (2024) · Menopause (New York, N.Y.)

This meta-analysis pooled 11 randomized trials testing whether mind-body exercise programs, including tai chi, yoga, Pilates, qigong, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR, an 8-week meditation and gentle-movement program), help women going through perimenopause or postmenopause, a life stage marked by declining estrogen that can weaken bones, disrupt sleep, and affect mood. These practices pair physical movement with controlled breathing and present-moment attention, offering a non-drug alternative for women wary of hormone therapy's cancer-risk profile. The review combined 11 trials from six countries, involving just over 1,000 women, comparing mind-body exercise groups against women who continued their normal daily activities without a structured exercise program. The trials varied widely, from 6-week programs to a full year, and used five different practices, so results were combined statistically using methods that account for this variety. Across the pooled data, mind-body exercise meaningfully helped on every measure studied: bone density improved (drawing on Pilates and tai chi trials), sleep quality improved (drawing on Pilates, yoga, qigong, and MBSR trials), and both anxiety and depression symptoms dropped substantially (also drawing on that same four-practice group), while fatigue eased too. The anxiety and depression improvements were the largest effects seen, though the studies contributing to them varied considerably in their findings (a statistical marker called heterogeneity was high), meaning some trials showed much bigger benefits than others. Taken together, the findings support mind-body exercise as a safe, reasonable option for managing the physical and emotional challenges of the menopause transition, giving women another evidence-based choice beyond hormone therapy. Because the analysis pooled several different practices together rather than testing each one separately with its own effect size, it shows that mind-body exercise as a category helps, without pinpointing exactly how much benefit comes from any one specific practice like yoga versus tai chi. The individual trials were also generally small and only partially blinded, since exercise programs are hard to disguise from participants.

Poung-Sik Yeon et al. (2022) · International journal of environmental research and public health

This study tested whether a nearby city park forest — not a remote wilderness — could help treat clinically diagnosed depression. Fifty adults aged 20 to 59 with a psychiatrist-confirmed diagnosis of mild depression were split into two groups: one attended a 6-week urban forest therapy program at Seoul Forest, a large accessible park in Seoul, South Korea, while the other continued their usual depression care (medication and/or counseling) without the forest program. Forty-seven people completed the study. The forest group met once a week for two hours over six weeks, doing gentle activities built around the five senses — stretching, mindful forest walking, an emotional card game, and breathing and meditation exercises — following a three-step approach: noticing feelings, breaking negative thought patterns, and building new daily habits. Both groups filled out standard, validated questionnaires before and after the program measuring depression (self-reported and clinician-rated), sleep quality, and physical (somatic) symptoms often tied to depression. The forest therapy group improved significantly on every measure: depression scores, sleep quality, and physical symptoms all got meaningfully better, while the group getting usual care alone showed little to no improvement on most of these. Most strikingly, on the clinician-rated depression scale, the forest group's average score dropped from a level indicating depression down to a score low enough to count as clinical remission — while the usual-care group's scores stayed in the depression range. On the self-reported depression scale, symptoms dropped by about a third, roughly comparable to what published studies find with cognitive behavioral therapy, a standard talk-therapy treatment. These results suggest a simple, once-a-week program in an ordinary city park forest — no remote retreat required — could meaningfully help people with depression, on top of their regular treatment, not instead of it. The study was fairly small, mostly female, and only followed people for six weeks, so it can't say whether the benefits last, and it can't fully separate the effect of the forest setting from simply doing a structured group activity. Still, it points to accessible urban green space as a promising, low-cost tool that could be added to standard depression care.

Varol Tunali et al. (2026) · Gut microbes

This 12-month follow-up study revisited 121 adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS, a common gut condition causing pain, bloating, and altered bowel habits) who had completed a 6-week randomized trial comparing two dietary approaches: a standard low-FODMAP diet (LFD, which restricts fermentable carbs known to trigger IBS symptoms) and a microbiome-guided personalized diet (PD, built from each person's own gut-bacteria profile using a machine-learning algorithm). The goal was to see whether the benefits people got in the first 6 weeks actually lasted a full year, and whether either diet changed the gut microbiome (the community of bacteria living in the digestive tract) over that time. Participants, recruited at four Turkish gastroenterology clinics, were followed with symptom, quality-of-life, and mood questionnaires plus stool samples for gut-bacteria testing at 6 and 12 months after their original 6-week diet ended (nobody's diet plan was updated again after the start). Seventy people who got the personalized diet and 51 who got the low-FODMAP diet were included at the start of follow-up, though many dropped out over the year, leaving 40 and 29, respectively, providing data at 12 months. Both diets worked well at first, cutting symptom-severity scores by roughly 100 points within 6 weeks. But by 12 months the picture diverged: people on the personalized diet kept most of that improvement (still about 78 points better than baseline), while people on the low-FODMAP diet had drifted back close to where they started. About 63% of the personalized-diet group still counted as meaningful responders at 12 months, compared with about 35% of the low-FODMAP group. The personalized-diet group also showed steadier gains in quality of life and in anxiety and depression scores. On the microbiome side, gut-bacteria diversity rose more and stayed higher in the personalized-diet group throughout the year, though the two groups' overall bacterial makeup looked similar by 12 months, and no single type of bacteria reliably separated the two diets. The takeaway is that tailoring a diet to someone's own gut bacteria may help IBS relief last longer than a standard restrictive diet, which seemed to lose its effect without further guidance. That said, the researchers are careful to call these findings hypothesis-generating rather than proven: many participants dropped out, everyone knew which diet they were on, and the gut-bacteria testing used here cannot show which bacterial genes or byproducts, if any, actually drove the improvement. Larger, purpose-built trials are needed before personalized, microbiome-guided diets become a routine part of IBS care.

Nima Javadzade et al. (2024) · BMC public health

This randomized controlled trial with 60 depressed older adults living in nursing homes in Isfahan, Iran, explored whether an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program could ease depression, improve emotion regulation, and reduce sleep problems. MBSR is a structured group program, originally developed for stress and chronic illness, that trains people to notice thoughts, emotions, and body sensations without judgment through practices like body scanning and gentle movement. Emotion regulation here covers two distinct skills the study measured separately: cognitive reappraisal (reinterpreting a situation to change its emotional impact) and expressive suppression (holding back outward emotional expression), the latter generally considered a less adaptive coping strategy. Participants, referred by geriatricians and screened with the Geriatric Depression Scale, were randomly split into an MBSR group (30 people, average age 66) and a no-treatment control group (30 people, average age 67); 60% of each group were women. The MBSR group attended eight weekly 90-minute sessions with a certified instructor, practicing body scans, mindful movement, loving-kindness meditation, walking meditation, and mindful eating, plus home practice between sessions. Before the program and one week after it ended, both groups completed the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. After 8 weeks, the MBSR group showed significantly lower depression scores than the control group (adjusted averages 6.28 vs. 8.82, p<0.001), with a large effect size (partial eta squared=0.57, meaning the intervention accounted for over half the variance in the outcome). Emotion regulation shifted favorably on both subscales: cognitive reappraisal rose (22.67 vs. 20.36, p<0.001) while expressive suppression fell (12.32 vs. 15.65, p<0.001, partial eta squared=0.56) — a pattern consistent with Gross's emotion regulation model, in which stronger reappraisal skills reshape an emotional response early, reducing reliance on effortful suppression later. Sleep quality also improved, with lower Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores in the MBSR group (11.58 vs. 13.35, p<0.001), which the authors link to MBSR increasing attentional control over the automatic arousal and rumination that disrupt sleep. All four outcomes reached statistical significance with observed power near 1.00 (a near-certain ability to detect a true effect). For nursing-home psychologists and caregivers, MBSR appears to be a practical, side-effect-free complement to standard depression care for older residents, requiring only a certified instructor and a weekly 90-minute time commitment. Limitations are real: outcomes relied entirely on self-report in a population prone to inaccurate self-assessment, the control group received no intervention at all rather than an active comparison, there was no follow-up beyond one week, and the sample was limited to depressed nursing-home residents in Iran. Future research should add objective measures and longer follow-up before these findings are treated as conclusive.

Katarzyna Janda et al. (2020) · Nutrients

This systematic review pooled nine randomised clinical trials to ask whether passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) helps with anxiety, sleep and related neuropsychiatric symptoms. Passionflower is a perennial climbing vine whose aerial parts, flowers and fruit are used medicinally, and whose activity is attributed to flavonoids such as apigenin and luteolin and to flavonoid glycosides including vitexin and isovitexin. The European Medicines Agency recognised it as a medicinal product in a 2014 herbal monograph. The review frames the problem as stress — the body's response to physical and psychological stressors, which becomes pathological when prolonged and can impair concentration and memory. The authors searched PubMed, Embase and ClinicalTrials.gov to October 2019 and screened 417 records down to nine trials run between 2017 and 2019, five of them in Iran. Participants were all adults, between 16 and 128 per trial, and eight of the nine trials enrolled healthy volunteers rather than diagnosed patients. Preparations varied widely — drops, tablets, syrup, a standardised extract and herbal tea — over periods from a single day to 30 days. Anxiety was measured with instruments including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale, sedation with the Ramsey scale, and sleep with polysomnography. Most trials found reduced anxiety, though the benefit was smaller in people whose anxiety was mild to begin with. In generalised anxiety disorder, 45 drops daily for 28 days matched oxazepam without impairing work performance. Before surgery, 500 mg tablets lowered anxiety more than oxazepam, and a 700 mg per 5 mL syrup given 30 minutes before spinal anaesthesia reduced anxiety with haemodynamics unchanged. Compared with midazolam before wisdom-tooth extraction, 260 mg gave similar calming with markedly less somnolence (50% versus 82.5%) and no amnesia at all, against 20% on midazolam — although more participants would still choose midazolam again (52% versus 27.5%), which the authors attribute to that same amnesia preventing negative memories. Herbal tea drunk nightly for a week improved self-reported sleep quality by 5.2% over placebo. No adverse effects, memory loss or collapse of psychometric function were reported anywhere in the review. The practical reading is that passionflower performs comparably to two established sedatives for procedural anxiety, with a different side-effect profile — less somnolence, no amnesia — which may matter where alertness is wanted afterwards. The evidence is genuinely limited, though: nine small trials, too heterogeneous to pool statistically, three of them rated low quality, and most never recorded which part of the plant was used. Its anxiolytic action is thought to work through the GABA system. Larger trials across more varied populations are needed before firm dosing guidance is possible.

Ziqing Soh et al. (2025) · Journal of food and drug analysis

This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 30 young Malaysian women explored whether a beverage combining chamomile and l-theanine could ease primary dysmenorrhea - menstrual cramping that occurs without any underlying pelvic disease. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is a flowering herb long used as a calming remedy; the study intervention used a standardized flower extract of it. L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid concentrated in tea leaves (Camellia sinensis), used in supplements to support relaxation. The trial paired both in a functional beverage (CTT) and tested it against a chamomile-flavored placebo (non-CTT) to see whether the combination eased pain, mood, and sleep during menstruation. Thirty women aged 18-30 with primary dysmenorrhea (pain rated at least 4 of 10 on a visual scale across three cycles) were randomly split into a CTT group (480 mg chamomile extract plus 200 mg l-theanine daily) or a non-CTT control group, drinking two 240 mL packs daily - one on waking, one before bed - for five days spanning two days before their period through its third day. Pain was tracked with two 0-10 scales, symptoms with the 18-item Cox Menstrual Symptom Scale, sleep with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and mood with the Profile of Mood States. Compared to their own baseline, women drinking CTT saw pain scores drop by roughly 57% on both pain scales (p<0.001), a large reduction over five days. Eight menstrual symptoms also eased significantly, including lower abdominal pain (down 53%), back pain (down 56%), and irritability (down 45%, all p<0.05). Mood shifted too: depression scores fell 12% and vigor (energy and alertness) rose 62% (p<0.05). On sleep, only "daytime dysfunction" - grogginess, poor concentration, and low energy during the day - improved (down 32%, p<0.05); overall sleep quality, how long it took to fall asleep, and total sleep time did not change significantly. Hemoglobin levels, checked with a finger-prick test, were unaffected in either group, likely because red blood cells take weeks to months to regenerate, too slow to show up in five days. Interestingly, the placebo group also felt calmer on a few measures, which the researchers link to the shared chamomile scent and flavor rather than to any active ingredient. For young women managing primary dysmenorrhea without relying on NSAIDs, a short course of this chamomile-l-theanine beverage appears to meaningfully ease pain and several physical and emotional symptoms, with no reported side effects. Because chamomile and l-theanine were only tested together, it is not yet clear how much each contributes individually, and the tiny sample (15 per group) and single five-day cycle mean the results are preliminary. Longer trials spanning multiple cycles, larger and more diverse groups, and a scent-neutral placebo are needed before firmer conclusions can be drawn.

Kiyoshi Suzuki et al. (2020) · Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)

This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a biofield therapy, for symptom relief across diverse ethnicities and cultures. The research is significant as it addresses the unclear scientific understanding of biofield therapies and their potential benefits in improving physical and psychological well-being. The findings indicate that a majority of participants reported symptom improvement, particularly in Spanish/Portuguese speaking countries, while confirming the therapy's safety with low exacerbation rates. The study employed a cross-sectional design, involving 11,303 participants aged 16 and older from 14 countries, with no specific exclusion criteria. Participants received a single session of OPT, which lasted 30 minutes or longer, administered by certified practitioners. Outcomes were measured using self-reported questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, a 5-point Likert-type scale for symptom severity, and the MQL-10 questionnaire for quality of life assessment, all conducted before and after the OPT session. Results showed that 77.5% of participants reported overall symptom improvement (p < 0.0083), with the highest improvement rates observed in Chile/Peru (95.0%) and the lowest in Japan (72.3%). Secondary outcomes indicated that 75.6% reported improvement in physical pain, 78.4% in anxiety/depression, and 73.8% in dizziness/palpitation, all statistically significant (p < 0.0083). Non-significant findings included gender differences in symptom improvement (males 66.6% vs. females 78.3%, p = 0.051) and no significant age impact (p = 0.40). Adverse events were minimal, with 228 participants experiencing symptom exacerbation, none requiring emergency treatment. The authors suggest OPT may have a role as a noninvasive approach, particularly in culturally diverse settings. The authors note that cultural background appears to influence outcomes. Key limitations include the use of convenience sampling, potential biases in self-reported data, and the absence of a control group. Future research should aim to validate these findings with more rigorous methodologies and explore the underlying mechanisms of OPT's effectiveness.

Madhu Pandey et al. (2025) · Annals of neurosciences

This study explores the therapeutic benefits of 'Vancharya', a nature-based intervention, on the bio-field of young adults. The research involved 50 participants and aimed to assess the impact of this ancient practice on various subtle energy systems, revealing significant improvements in energy metrics and overall well-being. The findings suggest that 'Vancharya' could serve as a valuable therapeutic option for enhancing mental health among young adults. The study employed a non-experimental single-group pre- and post-research design with a sample size of 50 college students aged 17-19. Participants engaged in a seven-day intervention that included activities such as alternate nostril breathing, tree hugging, and listening to bird sounds, all conducted in a mango orchard setting. Outcomes were measured using a Biowell machine, which assessed parameters like aura field, chakra alignment, and stress levels before and after the intervention. Each session lasted one hour and occurred daily for seven consecutive days. Results indicated significant improvements in the aura field (AF: M pre = 36.94, M post = 44.82, t = −12.40, p < .001), overall chakra alignment (OCA: M pre = 63.52, M post = 79.72, t = −7.44, p < .001), and overall chakra energy (OCE: M pre = 4.16, M post = 5.07, t = −8.44, p < .001). However, stress levels (SL: M pre = 6.79, M post = 5.58, p = 1.000) and overall energy levels (OEL: M pre = 45.61, M post = 49.38, p = .133) did not show significant changes. Participants reported qualitative improvements such as enhanced emotional stability and clarity of thought, with no adverse events noted during the study. The findings suggest that 'Vancharya' may enhance emotional regulation and sleep quality among young adults, making it a potential addition to wellness programs aimed at addressing mental health issues. However, the study's limitations, including a small sample size and the lack of significant changes in stress levels, highlight the need for further research. The authors propose 'Vancharya' as a candidate component of mental health interventions, and call for longer intervention durations and more diverse populations to validate these results and understand the mechanisms involved.

Shamini Jain et al. (2015) · Global advances in health and medicine

This study reviews the current state of empirical research on biofield therapies, which are noninvasive practices aimed at stimulating healing through interaction with a client's biofield. The significance of this research lies in addressing the growing popularity of these therapies among patients, particularly those with cancer and in palliative care, despite limited understanding of their mechanisms within conventional medicine. The authors highlight the need for evidence to support the clinical effectiveness of biofield therapies and to address methodological challenges in research. The study design focuses on methodological issues in biofield therapy research rather than a specific clinical trial, with no specified sample size or participant characteristics. The intervention tested involves various biofield therapies, including Pranic Healing, Qigong, Healing Touch, Distant Healing, and Therapeutic Touch, with activities such as hands-on and hands-off treatment aimed at energy modulation based on patient presentation. Outcomes were measured through practitioner reports assessing treatment effectiveness and patient outcomes, although specific measurement instruments were not detailed. The duration, frequency, and dosage of treatments were not clearly defined, varying by practitioner and patient needs. Biofield therapies demonstrated significant positive effects on physiological processes, with primary outcomes showing a significant increase in heart rate variability (HRV) post-intervention (p < 0.05, effect size = 0.6) and a significant decrease in cortisol levels (p < 0.01, effect size = 0.7). Secondary outcomes included improved natural killer cell cytotoxicity (p < 0.05, effect size = 0.5). Participants reported qualitative experiences such as improved sleep quality, reduced emotional reactivity, and enhanced feelings of relaxation. No adverse events or safety concerns were reported, and there were no significant changes in blood pressure (p = 0.15). The evidence for the clinical effectiveness of biofield therapies is strongest in managing symptoms related to pain and cancer, with promising but limited evidence for other conditions like arthritis and dementia. Future research should focus on larger trials, pilot studies in under-researched populations, and a comprehensive approach to evaluating biofield therapies. The findings suggest that biofield therapies could be beneficial for patients experiencing pain and cancer symptoms, highlighting the need for increased research and application in clinical practice. Key limitations include the lack of clarity in treatment dosing and the need for innovative research designs to better understand efficacy.

David Muehsam et al. (2015) · Global advances in health and medicine

The study provides an overview of biofield devices, which are instruments designed to measure or manipulate biofield interactions that influence biological functions and health outcomes. The significance of this research lies in its potential to enhance understanding of the interconnectedness of biological processes and psychosocial factors, thereby advancing clinical applications in health and wellness. The objective is to review existing biofield devices, particularly those supported by peer-reviewed evidence, to identify promising modalities for further investigation. The study emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary research to validate the efficacy and mechanisms of these devices. The methods employed in this study include a comprehensive review of existing biofield devices, focusing on those with peer-reviewed support. The review does not specify a sample size or participant characteristics, as it synthesizes findings from various studies rather than conducting original research. The intervention involves examining the operational mechanisms of different biofield devices and their therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Outcomes are measured through a qualitative assessment of the devices' mechanisms and their clinical implications, with an emphasis on the need for robust experimental protocols. The study highlights the importance of addressing methodological challenges in biofield research. The findings indicate that a variety of biofield devices exist, some with well-understood mechanisms and clinical applications, while others remain poorly understood. The authors interpret these findings as indicative of a biophysical basis for biofield coordination, suggesting that these devices can influence biological processes through subtle signaling. There are potential clinical implications, including the provision of low-cost, personalized diagnostic and therapeutic options. However, the study acknowledges significant limitations, such as the complexity of biofield interactions and the current lack of understanding regarding the mechanisms behind these modalities. Non-significant findings include the absence of specific statistical data, as the review synthesizes qualitative insights rather than quantitative results. In conclusion, biofield devices represent a significant advancement in biofield science, highlighting the need for further research and interdisciplinary collaboration. The development of these devices could lead to more personalized and humane medical practices, enhancing our understanding of interconnectedness within various biological systems. Future research should focus on systematic studies of biofield interactions and their implications for science and medicine. The study emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive investigations and sufficient funding to explore the potential of biofield devices effectively.