The Need, Feasibility and Willingness to Explore “Meditation on Twin Hearts” as a Self-administered Tool for Mental Health Management among Transgender Women: An Exploratory Survey

Hijras are the transgender community and have been socio-economically marginalized and hence their mental healthcare needs to be addressed. This was a descriptive, qualitative study, conducted in Mysore, India to examine the mental health status of 33 transgender women (TGW) and their response to the “Meditation on Twin Hearts (MTH)” intervention. Assessment of anxiety, depression and suicidality was carried out before the meditative session followed by a single session of MTH. Their feedback on meditation experience was collected, coded, and transformed into quantitative data. Among total participants, 39.4% of TGW exhibited severe anxiety, 21.2% has severe depression and 75.8% of them were at suicidal risk. Depression was positively correlated with anxiety and suicidal behavior. Most participants reported MTH was useful with signs of improvements in mental state. Thus, a single session of MTH has shown good signs of improvement in mental state among TGW.