Abstract
Background: Depression, anxiety, and disordered sleep are some common symptoms associated with sub-optimal mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health issues have grown increasingly more prevalent in the population. Due to social distancing and other limitations during the pandemic, there is a need for home-based, flexible interventions that can improve mental health. The Yoga of Immortals (YOI) mobile application provides a structured intervention that can be used on any mobile device and applied from the user's home.Methods: A total of 1,505 participants were enrolled in the study and used the YOI app for an 8-week period. Participants were asked to fill out three questionnaires: The Patient Health Questionnaire, 8 items (PHQ-8), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). These three items were completed by 1,297 participants a total of four times: before starting YOI, two more times during use, and a fourth time after the 8-week usage period. Changes in PHQ8, GAD7 and ISI in participants were compared to a control group, who did not use the YOI app but completed all questionnaires (590 controls finished all questionnaires).Results: Participants reported significant decreases in depression and anxiety-related symptoms. Compared to baseline, PHQ-8 scores decreased 50% on average after the 8-week period. GAD-7 scores also decreased by 40–50% on average, and ISI scores decreased by 50%. These changes were significantly greater (p < 0.05) than that observed in the control group. Participants who reported a previous diagnosis of depression and generalized anxiety reported significantly larger decreases in PHQ-8 and GAD-7 as compared to participants with no prior diagnosis (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Regular use of the YOI intervention over an 8-week period led to significant decreases in symptoms of both depression and anxiety, as well as alleviation of insomnia.
Highlights
Mental health is a public health issue of increasing concern
When the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) scores in participants was compared to the change in controls by two-way ANOVA, both group status and time were factors that significantly affected the score
Post-hoc tests showed that participants had a significant decrease in scores as compared to controls – which was tested by comparing the pre vs. post level of the time factor in participants
Summary
Mental health is a public health issue of increasing concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one in four people worldwide will be affected by mental disorders at some point over their lifetimes [1]. Depression and anxiety are some of the more common psychiatric diagnoses, with estimates for the overall prevalence ranging from 4% up to 20% [2, 3], across various populations Both conditions are associated with decreased well-being and social functioning and affect the individual but family and friends as well. Both depression and anxiety tend to be underrecognized and undertreated [4], adding to the impact of both disorders. Due to social distancing and other limitations during the pandemic, there is a need for home-based, flexible interventions that can improve mental health. The Yoga of Immortals (YOI) mobile application provides a structured intervention that can be used on any mobile device and applied from the user’s home
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