Published Paper Details:

Introduction: Alcohol-related disorders have disrupted the everyday life of the consumer gradually and led to a rise in alcohol-related diseases, violence, including homicide, suicide, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence. Long-term diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems, are also rising due to excessive alcohol intake. Moreover, social problems, including lost productivity, family problems, unemployment, are due to excessive alcohol intake. Aims: To study the effects of adjuvant yoga therapy on stress, anxiety, and depression in patients undergoing an alcohol de-addiction program at Mahatama Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute (MGMC&RI) in Puducherry. Settings and design: Seventy-one male patients undergoing an alcohol de-addiction program were recruited as subjects and randomly divided into Group A, who received Yoga therapy, including daily counseling, as per the CYTER protocol along with standard medication for minimum six sessions of 1 to 1 hour and 30 minutes each session, and Group B, who only received standard medical management. Methods and materials: The patients were administered the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale (HADS) before and after the study period. Statistical analysis used: Statistical analysis was carried out using JASP-0.9.2.0 software. Wilcoxon test was performed for intragroup comparisons, and the Mann-Whitney test was performed for intergroup comparison to arrive at the p values. Results: The intervention group showed significant changes in stress (p=0.0319), anxiety (p=0.0040), and depression (p=0.0571) in the intergroup comparisons, i.e., with the control group. In the intragroup comparisons, i.e., within the intervention group, stress (p<0.001), anxiety (p<0.001), and depression (p<0.01) showed significant changes as well. Conclusion: The results of the present study support previous studies wherein yoga therapy helps in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression levels of the patients.