Relationship of frequent mantram repetition to emotional and spiritual well-being in healthcare workers.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers report high levels of stress in the workplace. To determine how to reduce stress, the authors examined the effectiveness of frequently repeating a mantram (a word with spiritual meaning) on emotional and spiritual well-being. METHODS: A pretest-posttest design was used to measure stress, state/trait anxiety and anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being in a convenience sample (N=42) of hospital workers completing a mantram intervention program. RESULTS: Significant improvements were found in stress (p < .001), trait-anxiety (p = .002), trait-anger (p = .02), quality of life (p = .001), and spiritual well-being (p = .003). When examining the effects of mantram practice, trait-anxiety and religious and spiritual well-being were significant (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Improvements in emotional and spiritual well-being may be mediated by frequent mantram repetition.

Effects of spiritual mantram repetition on HIV outcomes: a randomized controlled trial.

We examined the efficacy of a psycho-spiritual intervention of mantram repetition--a word or phrase with spiritual associations repeated silently throughout the day--on psychological distress (intrusive thoughts, stress, anxiety, anger, depression), quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction, and existential spiritual well-being in HIV-infected adults. Using a 2-group by 4-time repeated measures design, 93 participants were randomly assigned to mantram (n = 46) or attention control group (n = 47). Over time, the mantram group improved significantly more than the control group in reducing trait-anger and increasing spiritual faith and spiritual connectedness. Actual mantram practice measured by wrist counters was inversely associated with non-HIV related intrusive thoughts and positively associated with quality of life, total existential spiritual well-being, meaning/peace, and spiritual faith. Intent-to-treat findings suggest that a mantram group intervention and actual mantram practice each make unique contributions for managing psychological distress and enhancing existential spiritual well-being in adults living with HIV/AIDS.

Mantram repetition for stress management in veterans and employees: a critical incident study.

AIM: This paper reports a study assessing the usefulness of a mantram repetition programme. BACKGROUND: Complementary/alternative therapies are becoming commonplace, but more research is needed to assess their benefits. A 5-week programme teaching a 'mind-body-spiritual' technique of silently repeating a mantram - a word or phrase with spiritual meaning - to manage stress was developed. A mantram was chosen by individuals, who were taught to repeat it silently throughout the day or night to interrupt unwanted thoughts and elicit the relaxation response. METHODS: Participants who attended a 5-week course were invited to participate in the study. Of those who consented, a randomly selected subset (n = 66) was contacted approximately 3 months after the course for a telephone interview using the critical incident interviewing technique. Participants were asked whether the intervention was helpful or not, and if helpful, to identify situations where it was applied. Interviews were transcribed and incidents were identified and categorized to create a taxonomy of uses. The data were collected in 2001-2002. RESULTS: Participants included 30 veterans, mostly males (97%), and 36 hospital employees, mostly females (86%). Mean age was 56 years (sd = 12.94). Fifty-five participants (83.3%) practiced the technique and reported 147 incidents where the programme was helpful. Outcomes were organized into a taxonomy of incidents using four major categories that included managing: (a) emotions other than stress (51%); (b) stress (23.8%); (c) insomnia (12.9%); and (d) unwanted thoughts (12.3%). A group of raters reviewed the categories for inter-rater reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants from two distinct samples reported that the mantram programme was helpful in a variety of situations. The critical incident interviewing method was found to be practical, efficient, and thorough in collecting and analyzing data. Such qualitative methods contribute to understanding the benefits of mind-body complementary therapies.

Efficacy of frequent mantram repetition on stress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being in veterans: a pilot study.

PURPOSE: Silent, frequent repetition of a mantram-a word or phrase with spiritual significance, sometimes called a Holy Name-is an ancient form of prayer that may reduce stress and related symptoms. The authors tested the feasibility and efficacy of a 5-week (90-min per week) intervention on mantram repetition in a sample of ambulatory veterans. METHOD: Aconvenience sample (N= 62) of outpatient veterans participated in the study by completing pre-and posttest self-report questionnaires on stress, anxiety, anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being. Wrist-worn counters were provided to track mantram practice. FINDINGS: Mantram repetition significantly reduced symptoms of stress and anxiety and improved quality of life and spiritual well-being. CONCLUSION: Additional research using a larger sample size and control group is needed to further substantiate the benefits of this intervention. IMPLICATIONS: Frequent, silent mantram repetition is easily taught and could be used by nurses and patients for managing stress and increasing well-being.