I posted this in a couple of other responses, but wanted to start a new thread to tell people about what I found out last evening!
Namaste,
Richard
Hi,
This is my first post here, but after having my Palace of Possibilities
blown wide open yesterday when my roommate found this, I started looking for
other people that are working with Vets. I am a Vet myself and got to talking
with a Iraq
vet last night about his PTSD and if he would be interested in working on
releaving his symptoms (nightmares and insomnia). He was very turned on
to the idea. So here goes everything! I thought everyone might like
to see that our military is finally starting to realize that traditional means
in treating these Vets may not work and it may finally open some new
avenues. I know that this is long, but I believe it's worth it. It
would be of great importance to bring EFT to the forefront on this issue.
Richard Marr - Valley of the Sun EFT
Army Tests Yoga & Meditation for
Post-Traumatic Stress
By Noah Shachtman
Source: Wired Blog
The military is scrambling for new ways to treat the brain injuries and
post-traumatic stress of troops returning home from war.
And every kind of therapy -- no matter how far outside the accepted medical
form -- is being considered. The Army just unveiled a $4 million program to
investigate everything from 'spiritual ministry, transcendental meditation,
[and] yoga' to 'bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, [and] distant healing' to
mend the psyches of wounded troops.
As many as 17 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, one
congressional study estimates. Nearly 3,300 troops have suffered traumatic brain injury,
or TBI, according to statistics assembled last summer. And the lifetime costs
of treating these ailments could pile up to as much as $35 billion, a Columbia University report guesses.
Small wonder, then, that the government is looking for alternate means
to treat these injuries. The Defense Department 'is dedicated to supporting
evidence-based approaches to medical treatment and wants to support the use of
alternative therapies if they are proven efficacious,' notes a recently-issued
request for proposals.
But many of these treatments haven't been held up to much rigorous
scientific scrutiny before. So the Army is looking to hand out $4 million in
'seedling grants' to 'conduc[t] rigorous clinical studies' into all sorts of
'novel approaches.' Projects 'containing preliminary data' will be eligible for
up to $1 million. But even 'innovative but testable hypotheses without
preliminary data' could get as much as $300,000. Proposals are due May 15.
'Music, animal-facilitated therapy, art, dance/movement, massage
therapy, EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing] program
evaluation, virtual reality, acupuncture, spiritual ministry, transcendental
meditation, [and] yoga,' might all be considered worth of the military's
largess. So would 'biologically-based treatments, botanicals, and nutritional
supplements for enhancing cognitive function and mood in patients with trauma
spectrum disorders, including TBI and/or PTSD, depression, anxiety, and/or
substance dependence/abuse.' Even proposals for wild-sounding 'therapies using
bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, distant healing and acupuncture' would be
accepted.
This is from the actual DCoePH-TBI Program Announcement:
With the focus on a holistic approach for trauma spectrum
disorders, including patients with TBI and/or post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), depression, anxiety, and/or substance dependence/abuse, the following
delineate several of the areas of interest:
1. Conducting rigorous clinical studies to determine the efficacy of
alternative therapies for treating psychological health injuries using
techniques such as music, animal-facilitated therapy, art, dance/movement,
massage therapy, EMDR program evaluation, virtual reality, acupuncture,
spiritual ministry, transcendental meditation, yoga and other novel approaches.
2. Identification of patterns of use of CAM
therapies to build resilience in military populations,
3. Identification of factors and perceptions associated with use of
alternative and complementary therapies by service-members,
4. Studies of mechanisms and efficacy of biologically-based treatments,
botanicals, and nutritional supplements for enhancing cognitive function and
mood in patients with trauma spectrum disorders, including TBI and/or PTSD,
depression, anxiety, and/or substance dependence/abuse,
5. Studies that examine gender-specific implications and issues related to the
use of CAM therapies,
6. Biological mechanisms and efficacy underlying acupuncture for trauma
spectrum disorders, including TBI and/or PTSD, depression, amxiety, and/or
substance dependence/abuse, including neuroimaging studies.
7. Identification of the use and efficacy of therapies using bioenergies such
as Qi gong, Reiki, distant healing, and acupuncture, especially new biophysical
approaches involving instrumentation.