Recent research shows both state and trait anxiety levels are reduced significantly when adults undergoing withdrawal from psychoactive drugs receive a 20-minute chair massage.

The study, “Chair Massage for Treating Anxiety Patients Withdrawing from Psychoactive Drugs,” involved 83 patients from a withdrawal-management unit at Addiction Prevention and Treatment Services, Capital District Health Authority, in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Results of the study revealed a significant drop in both state and trait anxiety levels among participants in the massage-therapy group and the relaxation control group, following each of the 20-minute sessions.

However, the reduction in mean state and trait anxiety for the massage-therapy group was significantly greater than that of the relaxation control group.

A full Research Report on this study will run in MASSAGE Magazine’s April issue.