Research JAMA Internal Medicine · 2014
Goyal et al. — Meditation Programs for Stress
High-profile systematic review: modest evidence for anxiety, depression, and pain; limited evidence for other stress-related outcomes. The paper that should live on every overclaim.
Madhav Goyal and colleagues reviewed meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being. The tone is clinical and unsentimental. That is why it is useful.
Who, where, when
Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice center work, published in JAMA Internal Medicine. PMID 24395196.
What the work actually did
Systematic review / meta-analysis of randomized programs. Modest effects on anxiety, depression, pain; little for other advertised benefits. Active controls shrink some effects.
What it does not prove
This is not a binaural-beat review. It is the standard for how to talk about contemplative programs as health interventions. Audio products that borrow the halo should borrow the caution too.
How to use this page
If you sit with this console for rest, you are allowed to like it. You are not allowed to call it a treatment because a journal exists.
Related
Editorial reading of published research. The official paper is authoritative. Not medical advice. Not a claim that consumer audio recreates a trial protocol.