A Proof of Concept and Feasibility Trial of Compassion Meditation for PTSD

描述（由申请人提供）：对于治疗创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的补充和替代方法，包括冥想，有相当大的公众和专业兴趣，但很少有经验支持来指导它们的使用。多种冥想技巧可以用于改善这种障碍，文献表明它们通过不同的机制起作用。慈悲冥想是一种冥想练习，专注于希望他人和自己可以摆脱痛苦。因为这种特殊的冥想形式已经被证明可以引发积极的情绪和与他人联系的感觉，所以它非常适合治疗创伤后应激障碍，这种疾病的特征是强烈的消极影响，积极情绪和社会联系的缺陷。同情冥想还没有被评估用于PTSD患者；因此，该项目的目标是完善现有的针对创伤后应激障碍患者的慈悲冥想方案，并检查这种方法的安全性和可行性，并收集数据以初步评估效果。建议项目将分两期完成。在第一阶段，同情心冥想方案将在创伤后应激障碍患者身上执行，并根据治疗师和参与者的反馈反复完善。此外，在之前的创伤后应激障碍试验中使用的放松方案将被修改，以匹配冥想练习的长度和格式。在第二阶段，我们将完成一项试点研究，以检验进行随机试验比较这些干预措施的可行性，并提供信息，使我们能够更好地设计未来的项目。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is considerable public and professional interest in complementary and alternative approaches, including meditation, for managing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there is little empirical support to guide their use. Multiple meditatie techniques can be applied to the amelioration of this disorder, and the literature suggests that they operate by different mechanisms. Compassion meditation is a meditative practice focused on the wish that others and the self may be free of suffering. Because this particular form of meditation has been shown to elicit positive emotion and feelings of connection with other people, it is uniquely well suited to addressing PTSD, which is characterized by strong negative affect, deficits in positive emotion and social connectedness. Compassion meditation has not been evaluated for use with PTSD patients; therefore, the goal of this project is to refine an existing compassion meditation protocol for individuals with PTSD and to examine the safety and feasibility of this approach and to collect data to make initial estimates of efficacy. The proposed project will be completed in two phases. In phase one, the compassion meditation protocol will be executed with individuals with PTSD and iteratively refined based on therapist and participant feedback. In addition, a relaxation protocol that was used in a previous PTSD trial will be modified to match the length and format of the meditative practice. In phase two, we will complete a pilot study to examine the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial comparing these interventions and to provide information that will allow us to better design future projects. Ultimately, the research informed by this project may provide an additional option for treatment of PTSD, which would be an important contribution because existing treatment approaches are not universally acceptable or effective.