Effect of juggling therapy on anxiety disorders in female patients

• Published in: BioPsychoSocial medicine Vol. 1; no. 1; p. 10
• Main Authors: Nakahara, Toshihiro, Nakahara, Kazuhiko, Uehara, Miho, Koyama, Ken-ichiro, Li, Kouha, Harada, Toshiro, Yasuhara, Daisuke, Taguchi, Hikaru, Kojima, Sinya, Sagiyama, Ken-ichiro, Inui, Akio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 01.05.2007; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Anxiety; Care and treatment; Short Report; Japan
• ISSN: 1751-0759; 1751-0759
• DOI: 10.1186/1751-0759-1-10

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of juggling therapy for anxiety disorder patients. Subjects were 17 female outpatients who met the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders. Subjects were treated with standard psychotherapy, medication and counseling for 6 months. For the last 3 months of treatment, subjects were randomized into either a non-juggling group (n = 9) or a juggling therapy group (juggling group: n = 8). The juggling group gradually acquired juggling skills by practicing juggling beanbags (otedama in Japan) with both hands. The therapeutic effect was evaluated using scores of psychological testing (STAI: State and Trate Anxiety Inventry, POMS: Profile of Mood Status) and of ADL (FAI: Franchay Activity Index) collected before treatment, 3 months after treatment (before juggling therapy), and at the end of both treatments. After 6 months, an analysis of variance revealed that scores on the state anxiety, trait anxiety subscales of STAI and tension-anxiety (T-A) score of POMS were significantly lower in the juggling group than in the non-juggling group (p < 0.01). Depression, anger-hostility scores of POMS were improved more than non-jugglers. In the juggling group, activity scores on the vigor subscale of POMS and FAI score were significantly higher than those in the non juggling group (p < 0.01). Other mood scores of POMS did not differ between the two groups. These findings suggest that juggling therapy may be effective for the treatment of anxiety disorders.