Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 11: Yoga may significantly accelerate recovery from opioid withdrawal while also reducing anxiety, sleep disturbances and pain, according to new research that highlights its potential role as a complementary therapy in addiction treatment.
Opioid withdrawal is marked by a wide range of distressing symptoms, including diarrhoea, insomnia, fever, body pain, anxiety and depression, along with autonomic reactions such as dilated pupils, runny nose, goosebumps, nausea, vomiting and excessive sweating. These effects are largely driven by overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system caused by disrupted noradrenergic signalling.
The study, led by researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, suggests that yoga should be incorporated into withdrawal care as a science-backed intervention that targets underlying neurobiological mechanisms rather than just surface symptoms.
“In this trial, yoga significantly enhanced opioid withdrawal recovery through measurable autonomic and clinical improvements,” said Suddala Goutham from the Department of Integrative Medicine at NIMHANS. “The findings support its integration into withdrawal protocols as a neurobiologically informed intervention.”
Opioid use disorder (OUD), defined by repeated opioid use leading to serious physical, psychological and social harm, remains a major global public health concern. In 2022, around 60 million people worldwide were estimated to have used opioids non-medically, yet only about one in eleven individuals with drug use disorders received treatment. In India, a national survey conducted in 2019 reported opioid use prevalence at 2.1 per cent.
Conventional treatments for opioid withdrawal often fail to adequately address the imbalance between heightened sympathetic activity and reduced parasympathetic tone, a gap that may increase the risk of relapse.
To assess whether yoga could help bridge this gap, researchers conducted a randomised clinical trial involving 59 male participants diagnosed with OUD. Thirty participants received yoga in addition to standard buprenorphine treatment, while 29 formed the control group.
Results showed that those who practised yoga alongside medication achieved withdrawal stabilisation 4.4 times faster than those receiving standard treatment alone. They also demonstrated marked improvements in heart rate variability — an indicator of autonomic balance — as well as reductions in anxiety, sleep problems and pain.
According to the researchers, the findings indicate that yoga helps restore core regulatory processes in the body. Writing in JAMA Psychiatry, the team noted that by promoting parasympathetic recovery, yoga could address a critical unmet need in opioid withdrawal care, with potential benefits for both patient outcomes and healthcare costs.