Yoga in the Management of Depression among Students

Depression and other psychiatric problems impair academic performance. It is a serious mental health concern that affects learning process of children. Yoga helps students directly to hold his / her physical fitness, forces in balance and indirectly to develop his/her mental powers. The aim of the present study was to find out the role of Yogic Exercises Therapy in the management of depression among students. Once the students are free from depression symptoms, they can concentrate well in their studies and score good marks in the examination. The objective of the present study was to stress the importance of psychological care of students, suffering from depression symptoms, in order to help them to alleviate the ill-effects of depression symptoms thereby successful in their academic as well as in life. Three hundred healthy and well motivated school students, 150 Boys and 150 Girls, studying Higher Secondary Course (+2), age ranging from 15 to 18 years, constituted as a sample for the present study. School students were administered with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to find out the level of depression. Out of 300, 40 school students with mild depression, willing to participate in the study, were divided into two groups such as Control and Experimental group (Yoga). Out of 40, 20 students: 10 Boys and 10 Girls each were allotted to Control and Experimental groups. Experimental group was exposed to certain selected yogic exercises such as Suryanamaskar, Sitting postures such as Paschimotasana, Ardhamatsyendrasana, Padmasana, Vajrasana, Ushtrasana, Standing postures such as Parsavatriconasana, Dhadasana, Prone postures such as Salabhasana, Bhujangasana, Dhanurasana, Supine postures such as Matyasana, Sarvangasana, Halasana, Chakrasana and Relaxing Savasana, twice a day, morning and evening, for duration of thirty minutes, for one month whereas Control group was not exposed to any therapeutic intervention. Students were practicing Yoga in their respective school premises. Boys and girls were undergoing training separately. BDl was administered one month after therapeutic intervention. Follow-up was conducted after three months of continuous therapeutic intervention. Comparison of the performance of Control and Experimental (YOGA) groups showed that there is an extremely significant difference (P < 0.0001) existing between the Mean Pre and Posttest BDl scores Experimental group was lower (P < 0.0001) than the Control group in the mean Posttest scores of BDl after the management Results clearly indicated that there is an extremely significant difference (P < 0.0001) existing in the performance of Yoga Boys and Girls Girls were better (P < 0.0001) than the Boys in overcoming the ill-effects of depression symptoms Students who underwent Yogic Exercises Theranv were free from depression symptoms after practicing yoga Follow-up assessment was carried out three months after the regular practice of Yogic Exercises Therapv ft was evident from the study that the students who were practicing voga could sustain the psychological wellbeing even after three months of therapeutic intervention Practicing voga regularly helped to overcome depression symptoms and there bv promoted psychological wellbeing and academic success among school students Of all the therapeutic techniques Yogic Exercises Therapy was one of the best therapeutic techniques in the management of depression among school students Yogaisoneofthemost economical less time consuming and the most effective method of management of depression among school students We wish to reiterate that psychologists in the school play an important role in the management of depression and other psychiatric problems among school students.