Meditation and Mental Health (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress) in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Meditation encompasses any practice that connects an individual to their inner self. All these practices essentially serve to relax and divert both the mind and the body away from worries and concerns. The popularity of meditation has grown tremendously in the last century. Due to its correlation with mental health, research efforts spiked to uncover an association. Purpose: The main objective is to measure the frequency of meditation among the Saudi population and to understand its impact on mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress). Methods: We used a cross-sectional design among the population in Saudi Arabia. A validated online questionnaire was distributed via social media channels using convenience sampling. Chi-square tests were used to determine associations between meditation, demographics, depression, anxiety, and stress. Results: A total of 902 respondents answered the survey. The majority (75%) reported practicing some form of meditation and the most common meditation practice was exercise, which was reported by 390 (43%). The proportion of those with severe/extremely severe depression was higher in the group that did not meditate (38%) as compared to 29% in the group that meditated (p=0.03). A similar difference was seen for the stress levels, with 38% of the non-meditating group having severe/extreme level of stress as compared to 28% in the meditating group (p=0.03). There was no significant difference in the anxiety level between the two groups (p=0.38). Conclusion: Meditation practice frequency is relatively high in Saudi Arabia. Our study uncovered an association between meditation and mental health status. The proportion of those with severe/extremely severe depression and stress was higher in the group that did not meditate. Meditation must be given higher priority in the management of mental health cases, especially in the early stages. Due to the limited meditation studies among the Saudi population, further research is essential to better understand the relationship between mental health and meditation.