Impact of progressive muscle relaxation on psychological symptoms on an inpatient psychiatric unit

Objectives

To examine the effectiveness of short-term progressive muscle relaxation therapy in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and aggression/agitation, in patients on an inpatient psychiatric unit. Additionally, to determine the impact of clinical and sociodemographic factors on its effectiveness.

Methods

Inpatients at an academic medical center psychiatric hospital were invited to participate in a progressive muscle relaxation activity and filled out pre- and post-activity surveys querying symptoms of depression, anxiety, and aggression/agitation, using a created Likert scale.

Results

The 57 participants in this study showed an average decrease in every symptom domain, including − 0.93 in agitation/aggressive symptoms (p < 0.001), − 2.14 in depressive symptoms (p < 0.001), and − 1.81 in anxiety symptoms (p < 0.001). While diagnosis did not appear to be significantly related to change in score, patients with different primary diagnoses had changes in different symptom domains, with patients with Bipolar Disorder having statistically significant changes in aggression (−1.57, p = 0.012) and depression (−2.36, p < 0.001), but not in anxiety. Patients with Depression had significant changes in depression (−2.08, p < 0.001) and anxiety (−1.96, p < 0.001) but not in aggression/agitation, while patients with a Schizophrenia spectrum illness had changes in depression alone (−2.33, p = 0.008). Sociodemographic variables had no significant impact.

Conclusions

The findings in this study indicate that a short-term progressive muscle relaxation intervention can lead to statistically and clinically significant acute changes across various symptom domains and in patients with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses, and support the implementation of this non-invasive and budget-friendly exercise.