CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1508937
Effectiveness of Mindfulness and Qigong Training for Self-Healing in patients with Hwabyung and depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial
Provisionally accepted
Seok-In Yoon
Hui-Yeong Park
Chan Park
Jiho PyunJae-Hong Yoo
Geum-Ju SongHyun Woo LeeSun-Yong ChungJong Woo Kim*- Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Background: Hwabyung is a Korean culture-bound syndrome characterized by anger-related physical and psychological symptoms. Depressive disorder is a common mental disorder that occurs worldwide and is highly comorbid with Hwabyung. In traditional East Asian medicine, both Hwabyung and depression are associated with an imbalance in vital energy termed qi. Mindfulness induces psychosomatic balance, and qigong facilitates the cultivation and regulation of qi, which may be effective treatments for Hwabyung and depression. This study aimed to investigate whether Mindfulness and Qigong Training for Self-Healing (MQT-SH) could improve psychosomatic symptoms in patients with Hwabyung and depressive disorders. Methods: This was a two-arm, randomized controlled trial. Patients diagnosed with both Hwabyung and depressive disorder were included in the trial. A total of 64 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental (n=32) or control group (n=32). The experimental group underwent MQT-SH that consisted of mindfulness and qigong for the first six weeks, whereas the control group received no treatment. During the next six weeks, the control group performed MQT-SH for ethical equity. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention (6-week), and follow-up (12-week). Results: MQT-SH significantly decreased Hwabyung, depression, anxiety, and anger while increasing subjective vitality, and the effectiveness of the intervention were maintained at a shortterm follow-up of 6 weeks. Physical vitality mediated the effectiveness of the MQT-SH on Hwabyung, whereas psychological vitality mediated the effectiveness of the MQT-SH on depression. Only one adverse event was reported during the intervention period. Home practice was not significantly associated with any intervention change. Discussion: This study demonstrated that MQT-SH is an effective and safe intervention for patients with Hwabyung and depressive disorders. This study explored the possibility that subjective vitality may serve as a mechanism for treating psychosomatic and mood symptoms. Future studies should control for placebo effects and conduct long-term follow-ups.
Keywords: Hwabyung1, depressive disorder2, vitality3, Mindfulness4, qigong5, randomized controlled trial6
Received: 10 Oct 2024; Accepted: 29 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yoon, Park, Park, Pyun, Yoo, Song, Lee, Chung and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jong Woo Kim, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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