Purpose: To assess the feasibility, effect sizes, and satisfaction of mantram repetition—the spiritual practice of repeating a sacred word/phrase throughout the day—for managing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. Design: A two group (intervention vs. control) by two time (pre- and postintervention) experimental design was used. Methods: Veterans were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 14) or delayed-treatment control (n = 15). Measures were PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen's d. Findings: Thirty-three male veterans were enrolled, and 29 (88%) completed the study. Large effect sizes were found for reducing PTSD symptom severity (d = –.72), psychological distress (d = –.73) and increasing quality of life (d = –.70). Conclusions: A spiritual program was found to be feasible for veterans with PTSD. They reported moderate to high satisfaction. Effect sizes show promise for symptom improvement but more research is needed. Purpose: To assess the feasibility, effect sizes, and satisfaction of mantram repetition—the spiritual practice of repeating a sacred word/phrase throughout the day—for managing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. Design: A two group (intervention vs. control) by two time (pre- and postintervention) experimental design was used. Methods: Veterans were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 14) or delayed-treatment control (n = 15). Measures were PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen's d. Findings: Thirty-three male veterans were enrolled, and 29 (88%) completed the study. Large effect sizes were found for reducing PTSD symptom severity (d = –.72), psychological distress (d = –.73) and increasing quality of life (d = –.70). Conclusions: A spiritual program was found to be feasible for veterans with PTSD. They reported moderate to high satisfaction. Effect sizes show promise for symptom improvement but more research is needed.

Background: Healthcare workers report high levels of stress in the workplace. To determine how to reduce stress, the authors examined the effectiveness of frequently repeating a mantram (a word with spiritual meaning) on emotional and spiritual well-being. Methods: A pretest–posttest design was used to measure stress, state/trait anxiety and anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being in a convenience sample ( N = 42) of hospital workers completing a mantram intervention program. Results: Significant improvements were found in stress ( p < .001), trait-anxiety ( p = .002), trait-anger ( p = .02), quality of life ( p = .001), and spiritual well-being ( p = .003). When examining the effects of mantram practice, trait-anxiety and religious and spiritual well-being were significant ( p < .05). Conclusion: Improvements in emotional and spiritual well-being may be mediated by frequent mantram repetition.