Effect of “Om” Chanting on Depression Among College Students - A Pilot Study

Authors

  • Naresh Kumar P Assistant Professor cum Research officer Department of Community Medicine JSS Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Coimbatore Author
  • VS Srimathi Medical officer, Holistic Department, Lotus Multispecialty Hospital, Erode. Author
  • Jincy Sundaran Assistant Professor Department of Psychology JSS Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Coimbatore Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48165/

Keywords:

Yoga, Depression, Om Chanting, Meditation, College students

Abstract

Background: Depression in the early life stage can lead to negative  consequences in adult life, which necessitates targeting the young adult  population to facilitate prevention. The objective of this study is to assess the  effect of “Om” chanting 108 times per day for 3 weeks on depression in freshly  inducted first-year Yoga and Naturopathy naïve medical college students. Methods: One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design in which a pretest measure is  done followed by a treatment and a posttest for a single group. The intervention  of chanting “OM” 108 times per day for 21 days was practiced by the 92 newly  joined medical students. An 18-item self-administered Goldberg depression  scale was used as the assessment tool for measuring the severity of the  depression pre and post-intervention. Results: The average age of the participants was (18.21 ±0.47 years) among  which 73.9% had depression ranging from possibly minor depression to severe  depression. There was a significant difference in the scores before intervention  (M=24.23, SD=13.25) and after intervention (M=15.42, SD=11.96) of OM chanting; t (67)= 6.93, p=0.001 showing chanting of “OM” had a significant  reduction on Depression scores among medical students.  Conclusion: The study showed that chanting OM 108 times for 21 days has a  significant impact on Depression scores among medical students. Om chanting  can be a cost-effective intervention and might prevent depression in students.  The findings warrant further large-scale studies for strengthening the findings.

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Published

2024-04-13

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 3 (2022): International Research Journal of Ayurveda And Yoga (March) 2022

Section

Survey Study

How to Cite

Kumar P, N., Srimathi, V., & Sundaran, J. (2024). Effect of “Om” Chanting on Depression Among College Students - A Pilot Study . International Research Journal of Ayurveda & Yoga, 5(3), 158-162. https://doi.org/10.48165/
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