Effects of Chanting and Mantra-Based Practices on Depression, Mindfulness, Spiritual Well-Being, Loneliness, and Rumination

Abstract

Background: Chanting and mantra-based practices have long been used for emotional calmness and inner well-being, yet the exact psychological areas covered by scientific research and the existing gaps remain unclear. Objective: The present systematic review aimed to examine whether chanting has been studied in relation to depression, mindfulness, spiritual well-being, loneliness, and rumination. Methodology: A systematic search was conducted across major databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, PsycINFO, and ResearchGate, and after screening and removal of duplicates, 46 studies were included for review. Results: The findings consistently showed that chanting and mantra-based practices are strongly associated with improvements in depression, stress, emotional balance, mindfulness, sleep, physiological regulation, and spiritual well-being across different populations. However, loneliness and rumination were rarely examined as direct outcomes. Conclusions: Overall, the review concludes that chanting functions mainly as a supportive mental health practice, and future research is strongly needed to directly investigate its effects on loneliness and rumination to develop more complete chanting-based psychological interventions.