The government is spending 4$ million to look at alternative healing for Vets.

Army's New PTSD Treatments: Yoga, Reiki, 'Bioenergy'

By Noah Shachtman

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.

"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.

Was the side effect of this medication Death?

The Cost of War by Julie Robinson

Stan and Shirley White of Cross Lanes remember they were at a restaurant that day - Sept. 26, 2005. They were talking about their youngest son, Andrew, and about how happy they were to have him home safe from Iraq.

Staff writer Charleston Gazette

Stan and Shirley White of Cross Lanes remember they were at a restaurant that day - Sept. 26, 2005. They were talking about their youngest son, Andrew, and about how happy they were to have him home safe from Iraq.

Then, Shirley's cell phone rang.

It was their daughter-in-law on the other end - the wife of their middle son, Bob, who was stationed in Afghanistan with the Army. Bob's Humvee had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was gone.

Now, 2 1/2 years later - on Feb. 12 - the Whites lost 23-year-old Andrew. He died mysteriously in his sleep, just as he was beginning an achingly slow climb out of the debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder.

"You really can't compare the two deaths, but directly and indirectly, both of their deaths are a result of the war," Stan said. "As a parent, you fear for them when they go to war. You fear for their lives over there. Andrew was home. We thought he was safe."

They are waiting for autopsy results, but the circumstances of Andrew's death mirror those of two other local servicemen, also treated for PTSD and taking the same medications.

"Is there a connection? We don't know," Stan said. "When you're 23, you're not supposed to go to sleep and not wake up.

"It seems like a cruel joke for him to die just when he was getting better," Shirley said.

Searching for answers

Since then, the Whites learned that the mysterious circumstances of Andrew's death are markedly similar to those of two other local servicemen who were being treated for PSTD with the same medications - Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel.

you can read the rest of this story at...http://wvgazette.com/News/200803150602

The encouraging thing about energy medicine is that there are no negative side effects. Many different energy techniques have very positive side effects however-more energy, deeper sleep, less tension, better digestion, improved memory and especially increased happiness.

Alpha Company hit hard by post-traumatic stress resulting from combat

By Tom Infield-Philadelphia Inquirer-staff writer
Of all the things that Alpha Company has had to struggle with since it came home from Iraq, the most pervasive may be post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Of the 126 veterans interviewed or surveyed by The Inquirer, almost half - 46 percent - said they had been treated for PTSD, most at VA hospitals and clinics in the region.

Alpha's rate of PTSD is higher than that of most U.S. troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan - partly, no doubt, as a result of its being a frontline combat unit that lost six men.

Shelley M. MacDermid, a Purdue University professor who served on a Defense Department mental-health task force last year, said typical PTSD rates among returning veterans were about 14 percent.

"Those are big numbers," she said of The Inquirer's Alpha findings.

National Guard and Reserve units, in general, have shown slightly higher PTSD rates than have regular Army units, she said.

The Defense Department task force said this might be in part because civilian-soldiers were separated after they returned home, rather than staying together as units in which the members could support one another.

Ira Katz, director of mental-health services for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said that among the 300,000 or so veterans who have been seen by the VA, about 20 percent have been diagnosed with PTSD.

But he said that twice that number - about 40 percent - have had some "mental condition."

"That's not all that different from your [46] percent," he said.

Both MacDermid and Katz said that PTSD had become a popular shorthand for all sorts of emotional symptoms that veterans experience. These may include depression and anxiety disorders, but not rise to the level of PTSD.

Steven Silver, who recently retired as director of the inpatient PTSD unit at the Coatesville VA hospital, predicted that as time went on, more and more combat veterans would be shown to have the high PTSD rate Alpha now shows.

PTSD, as a term, has been used only since 1980. World War II soldiers talked of battle fatigue. In World War I, it was shell shock.

Silver said that both the military and the VA had become more aggressive in warning troops about PTSD and getting them treatment.

He said that although Alpha's rate was high, "in some ways, it's good news. It means that people are coming in for help." (I agree this is very good news, it may be we are approaching a time of new understanding of this trauma. Which means we HAVE learned something from the Vietnam vets who suffered alone so terribly.)

(unfortunately however...) PTSD typically is treated with psychotherapy and antidepressant drugs, including Zoloft and Paxil. (which treats the symptoms but not the causes)

About two-thirds of Alpha veterans have received care at VA hospitals and clinics - for PTSD, physical ailments, or both.

quick fix for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?!?

Hard to imagine if you've got it.

The horrible PTSD symptoms veterans are experiencing are so debilitating and so enervating that it seems impossible there is a quick fix. Many believe there is not. One VA therapist I talked with believes it takes years of talk therapy and finding ways to integrate one's various roles and experiences to overcome PTSD.

He believes EMDR works for simple, one-time traumas such as a car accident. But this therapist believes for the complex situations that develop from killing people, seeing others killed and/or being in danger of being killed, it takes long and intensive therapy to heal. Perhaps he is right.

But what if there is an easier, quicker, safe way? Would it be worth a try?

We have written a self-help book called Recovering from PTSD YOUR Way to give you or your loved one an alternative to years of therapy. We are so confident it will help you that we are giving a money-back guarantee.

100% PTSD if you've been through the horrors of war.

We hear differing estimates of the number of soldiers and veterans who develop PTSD, or symptoms of PTSD, as a result of their combat experience. Depending on the source I have heard estimates from 30% to 70%. I disagree. I don't think it is possible to go through the horrors of war without developing PTSD. I don't think humans are equipped to handle the grizzly situations one experiences in war. I truly believe the percentage is closer to 100%.

Certainly some are able to cope to a better degree than others. That doesn't mean they are not affected. "Coping" can be deceiving. "Coping" may mean you don't have the nightmares, the flashbacks, etc. that are considered to be symptoms of PTSD. Though you may "cope" very well with the trauma, you may develop unexplained pain, hearing or vision loss, relationship problems, money problems, or maybe, heart disease. These may develop years after the trauma.

Severity of symptoms may vary from person to person, but I believe every soldier, every veteran can benefit by treatment. I believe your lives, your personal relationships, and your general health will be improved with treatment. Your ability to cope with the normal demands and various crises that we all face every day will be enhanced.

I know this has been the case with my own PTSD! I "coped" very well with my trauma. In fact, I pretty much forgot about it.

I had years of pain, sometimes extreme, sometimes not so bad. I was quick to anger. I had migraines. And there were many other problems which I did not relate to my trauma. Certainly it was never called PTSD. In fact, though doctors rarely used the label, it was implied: PSYCHOSOMATIC. And they gave me names of psychiatrists. But once I put everything together, I got rid of these uncomfortable symptoms by myself.