Yoga Reduces Symptoms of Distress in Tsunami Survivors in the Andaman Islands

Shirley Telles,K V Naveen,Manoj Dash

doi:10.1093/ecam/nem069

Shirley Telles, K V Naveen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nem069

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Abstract

A month after the December 2004 tsunami the effect of a 1 week yoga program was evaluated on self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in 47 survivors in the Andaman Islands. Polygraph recordings of the heart rate, breath rate and skin resistance were also made. Among the 47 people, 31 were settlers from the mainland (i.e. India, ML group) and 16 were endogenous people (EP group). There was a significant decrease in self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in both groups, and in the heart and breath rate in the ML group, and in the breath rate alone in the EP group, following yoga (P < 0.05, t-test). This suggests that yoga practice may be useful in the management of stress following a natural disaster in people with widely differing social, cultural and spiritual beliefs.

Highlights

The Indian Ocean tsunami which occurred in December 2004 affected various parts of South-East Asia including the Andaman Islands
Correlation between visual analog scale (VAS) and Polygraph Data There was no significant correlation between the self rated indicators of distress and the psycho-physiological variables recorded using a polygraph
A yoga breathing technique has been used as a public health intervention for survivors of mass disasters, to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [11]

Summary

Introduction

The Indian Ocean tsunami which occurred in December 2004 affected various parts of South-East Asia including the Andaman Islands. These islands consist of an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, inhabited by huntergatherers who are believed to have originated from the Paleolithic age and Neolithic colonies of South-East Asia [1]. A month after the tsunami there was an initiative to introduce stress management techniques for the people who were temporarily relocated in camps in the capital (Port Blair), as their homes were destroyed. At that stage their immediate needs were provided.

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