Chalk up another health benefit attributed to meditation. New research has found a form of the ancient practice known as “mindfulness medication” helped ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed veterans who received mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy showed greater improvement in self-reported PTSD symptom severity, Medical Xpress reports.

PTSD affects 23 percent of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and is linked to disability, and poor quality of life. By encouraging acceptance of thoughts, feelings, and experiences without avoidance, meditation may help veterans who have not benefited from other therapies, the researchers said.

Melissa A. Polusny, of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, tested the technique in 116 veterans with PTSD. After nine sessions, vets who practiced meditation had greater improvement in symptoms than those who did not.

"Findings from the present study provide support for the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction for the treatment of PTSD among veterans," the researchers wrote. "However, the magnitude of the average improvement suggests a modest effect."