Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Clinical Study: Massage therapy reduces anxiety and improves the EEG pattern associated with wakefulness as well as performance on math tasks.
Research:
In this study, adults either received a chair massage or, in the control group, were asked to sit in a relaxed position for 15 minutes—twice a week for five weeks.
In both groups, frontal delta activity on the EEG increased—an indication of relaxation.
The massage group also showed:
- Decrease in alpha and beta activity in the EEG
- Greater speed and accuracy in math problems
Results:
After five weeks, depression scores had decreased in both groups, but a reduction in job stress was observed only in the massage group.
Read the full study
Field, T., Ironson, G., Scafidi, F., Nawrocki, T., Goncalves, A., Burman, I., Pickens, J., Fox, N., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (1996). Massage therapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG patterns associated with alertness and mathematical computations. International Journal of Neuroscience, 86, 197–205.
