A Scoping Review of Yoga's Role in Mental Health Across Diverse Populations and Study Designs

Mental health disorders affect millions of people globally. Beyond conventional treatments, the ancient practice of yoga has gained recognition as a complementary approach. While also promoting overall well-being, yoga is increasingly explored as a preventive and therapeutic intervention for conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Given the growing body of research across varied study designs and populations, examining yoga's role in mental health is important. This scoping review explored existing literature on the relationship between yoga and mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, stress, schizophrenia, and PTSD, as well as overall well-being across diverse populations and contexts. Using specific keywords we searched electronic databases including Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed for English-language articles published since 2014. A total of 2,455 articles were retrieved and managed in EndNote. After removing 736 duplicates, 1,719 articles were screened. Following title and abstract screening, 77 full texts were reviewed, and 36 articles met the inclusion criteria. To ensure broad inclusion, critical appraisal was not performed. This review synthesized evidence on the effects of yoga among healthy individuals, students, patients, and populations in special conditions such as pregnancy and single motherhood. Five themes were identified: (1) effects of yoga on depression, anxiety, and stress in different populations; (2) anxiety-related outcomes highlighted in review studies; (3) yoga's impact on severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia and PTSD; (4) yoga's role in promoting well-being; and (5) biopsychological mechanisms underlying yoga's effects. Yoga reduced symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression; enhanced well-being; and served as a complementary intervention for severe mental disorders. Positive changes were observed in biochemical, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging markers. Despite heterogeneity, evidence demonstrated yoga's benefits for supporting mental health. Yoga holds promise as a supportive strategy for mental health promotion, although further standardized research is needed for validation.