Meditation is even more difficult to evaluate since the definition is extremely diffuse, and in
principle it can aid in coping with any stressful mental health condition. All meditation
disciplines make spiritual claims, and some emphasize meditation as a way of coping with
suffering, but Transcendental Meditation (“TM”) makes extensive scientific claims on the
web, claiming that, “[s]tudies have found that the TM technique reduces anxiety,
depression, and even symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder....
Over 600 research studies on TM indicate the positive effects of this stress reducing
technique, for example:
Faster recovery from stress
Decreased anxiety and insomnia
Reduced substance abuse
Decreased depression
Reduction in high blood pressure”^29
The 20 studies cited for TM’s efficacy in treating mental health conditions are all at least 13
years old, often not fully randomized and suffer from other methodological concerns
common with studies of mind-body CAM techniques, but are certainly suggestive. See http://www.tm.org/research-on-meditation
A 2006 Cochrane Collaboration review determined that the small number of reliable TM
studies do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of meditation
therapy in reducing anxiety, except that TM is comparable to other relaxation therapies.^30
The Dalai Lama has encouraged research in “mindfulness and contemplative
neuroscience,”^31 through his Mind and Life Institute, http://www.mindandlife.org/, and has
a special interest in research focused on the origins and practice of compassion. His credo is
