Meditation Helps PTSD according to a recent 2008 study of five Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who has served up to two years and experienced moderate to moderately heavy fighting. According to this release by the Behavioral Medicine Report, the study was conducted by Norman Rosenthal, M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and director of research at Capital Clinical Research Associates in Rockville, Maryland.
Dr. Rosenthal pioneered seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and light therapy. The veterans were taught Transcendental Meditation, and the results were monitored using Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), which is the premier tool used to assess post traumatic stress disorder patients. After eight weeks of meditation, the veterans had a 50% reduction in their symptoms.
Apparently meditation helps PTSD sufferers significantly. This is not the first time that researchers discovered that meditation helps PTSD symptoms in veterans. In 1985, the University of Colorado also experienced positive results during their three month study.
The Behavioral Medicine Report makes this observation: “Rosenthal hypothesizes that Transcendental Meditation helps people with post traumatic stress disorder because regular practice produces long-term changes in sympathetic nervous system activity, as evidenced by decreased blood pressure, and lower reactivity to stress. “Transcendental Meditation quiets down the nervous system, and slows down the ‘fight-or-flight’ response,” he said. People with post traumatic stress dirosrders show overactive fight-or-flight responses, making them excellent candidates for Transcendental Meditation.”
Meditation and PTSD each have a long history. According to Psychiatric-Disorders, ”… PTSD has been called a number of other different names, including:
- battle fatigue or gross stress reaction for soldiers who came down with PTSD after World War II
- combat fatigue or shell shock for soldiers who experienced PTSD symptoms after World War I
- soldier’s heart for soldiers who developed the symptoms of PTSD after the Civil War.”
Meditation has also been around for centuries and we now are starting to have the scientific proof of its benefits. The military sees Transcendental Meditation being used in the future to assist veterans suffering from PTSD.
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Maria Hill is the webmaster for HSP Health and HSP Health Blog. She is a long time meditator, reiki master, student of alternative health and Ayurveda. Maria is an abstract painter at Infinite Shape and also very interested in animal and human rights and the environment. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or the HSP Health Google+ page.
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