Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor, mood, and cognitive functioning. About half of individuals with Parkinson’s report symptoms of anxiety and depression. Poor mood and high perceived stress are associated with faster disease progression, highlighting the potential value of interventions targeting psychological wellbeing. Mindfulness-based interventions, which can improve mood and reduce acute stress, may enhance quality of life and potentially slow disease progression in people with Parkinson’s.
Kwok et al. [Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics] tested the effects of mindfulness meditation and mindful yoga on mental health symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers randomly assigned 159 Hong Kong residents with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease (average age=75 years; 52% female) to one of three groups: mindfulness meditation, mindful yoga, or waitlist control. Outcome assessors were masked to group assignment. The mindfulness meditation program followed the structure and practices of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and included eight weekly 90-minute group sessions along with assigned home meditation practice. The mindful yoga program had a similar format and dosage, with sessions incorporating controlled breathing, modified sun salutation postures, guided body scan, visualization, mantra, and loving-kindness meditations.
The waitlist control group received routine outpatient Parkinson’s care including medication management and minimal health management information. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post intervention, and 6-month follow-up.
Primary outcomes included self-reported anxiety and depression on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Clinically-relevant secondary outcomes included disease severity, quality of life, and plasma levels of the proinflammatory biomarkers cortisol, IL-6, and TNF-α.
Adherence across groups differed, with 70% of the meditation and 96% of the yoga participants attending at least six sessions. Dropout rates did not differ significantly across groups. At all assessment points, the yoga group had highest ratings for the value of the program.
At the post-intervention assessment both the meditation group (Cohen’s d=0.57) and yoga group (d=0.69) showed significant reductions in anxiety scores compared to the control group, while only the meditation group (d=0.59) showed a significant reduction in depression scores compared to controls. There were no significant differences between the meditation and yoga groups on primary outcome scores. In addition, improvements in depression and anxiety scores were no longer significant at six-month follow-up.
Regarding secondary outcomes, both intervention groups showed significant post-intervention improvements in motor symptoms and quality of life compared to the control group, but only the meditation group maintained these improvements at follow-up. Both intervention groups had significant reductions in immune-related IL-6 levels compared to controls, but there was no difference for cortisol and TNF-α.
The study demonstrates moderate alleviation of select mental health symptoms immediately following meditation or yoga interventions in people with Parkinson’s disease, with a possible improved inflammatory signal. The study is limited by the absence of an active control and failure to measure diurnal cortisol slopes. The results do not yet generalize to patients with more severe stages of disease who might be limited in their ability to adhere to instructional practices.
Reference:
Kwok, J. Y. Y., Chan, L. M. L., Lai, C. A., Ho, P. W. L., ... Ho, R. T. H. (2025). Effects of Meditation and Yoga on Anxiety, Depression and Chronic Inflammation in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
Link to study
