For our returning troops, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD in veterans is a problem of enormous proportions.   Various studies place the lifetime occurrence of ptsd in veterans from the combat arena at somewhere between 10 and 30 percent.  It is estimated that 20 percent of military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 6 years have ptsd.   That means over 300,000 soldiers are affected.

How serious is this? In an article from The Times Free Press, it’s stated that the Veterans Administration reports that about 1,000 veterans a month try to commit suicide.

A study published in JAMA show that Veterans with PTSD are more likely to abuse alcohol.  They have an increase in health problems, and struggle more with anger and violent behavior.   This violence is often directed towards family members.

The tragic outcomes of unresolved ptsd in veterans do not just go away over time.  Frequently they compound, creative progressive dysfunction in the lives of those who suffer with it.

The long lasting effects of ptsd in veterans are illustrated by the soldiers of the Vietnam war:   According to the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs, approximately one third of the nation’s homeless population is comprised of veterans, a majority of them veterans from Vietnam.  In fact, the number of homeless Vietnam veterans is now greater than the number of soldiers who were killed in Vietnam.   They are homeless because of the dysfunction, addiction and mental illness caused by their war experience.

Unfortunately, many veterans do not want to admit, either to themselves or others, that they are experiencing post-war trauma.  Admitting there is a need for treatment has often been stigmatized in the military and seen as a sign of weakness.

This is an attitude that perpetuates a great deal of suffering.  The kind of emotional repression that contributes to ptsd is an essential skill during combat.    A soldier must be able to repress his fear, his horror and his grief during battle in order to keep functioning effectively.

However, if these repressed emotions are not released during a time of safety, they hold the brain hostage, derailing a veteran’s ability to feel empathy, joy and enthusiasm.  In addition,  emotions trapped by trauma can trigger unexpectedly when there is some kind of threat, even if it is relatively minor.    Triggered emotions can unleash explosively as rage or violence, or can overwhelm the conscious mind with feelings of guilt, despair and hopelessness, leading to suicidal thinking or substance abuse.   Some veterans find themselves feeling completely disconnected from their pre-combat lives, unable to feel, enjoy, love or even sleep.

It’s important to help our veterans to understand is that the mental coping strategies required of a competent soldier create an inherent risk of developing ptsd.    At the same time, release techniques can be learned, painful emotions can be discharged safely and gradually, and soldiers can return to being normal civilians.   It is possible for severe cases of ptsd in veterans to be completely resolved, and for severely-impacted combat veterans to “get their lives back” and become normal, healthy, comfortable citizens and family members.

Many soldiers have lost hope.   Traditional therapies, including medication, have been woefully inadequate in resolving ptsd in veterans.  Outcome studies are sadly lacking—and there hasn’t been much in traditional therapy to motivate the creation of such studies.    Consider, for example, the difference between traditional therapy and a potent and well-researched brain-based therapy, neurofeedback.

Peniston and Kulkowsky’s study of neurofeedback with ptsd in veterans evaluated a group of Vietnam veterans with treatment resistant alcohol addiction and ptsd. Half of the group (the control group) received the conventional individual and group therapy and medication.  The other group, in addition to the conventional treatment, were given 30 sessions of neurofeedback.    At the 30 month follow-up, 80 percent of the neurofeedback group maintained their sobriety.   Only 20% of the control group maintained sobriety.

Various other new treatments based on current brain-imaging research are showing promise.   For example

* Guided Imagery (using tape recordings that veterans listen to at home–argubly the cheapest and most convenient of studies.)   The Durham studies at Duke University are showing very encouraging results for this approach, in which veterans listen to the recordings for 12 weeks.  Significant gains are reported, and have been maintained at the 30 week follow-up.

*Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)–a meridian based tapping therapy.  Pilot studies are showing 50% reduction of symptoms in 8 sessions.   Emotional Freedom therapy is probably the most widely available of the brain-based therapies.   It has spread rapidly among therapists because it is inexpensive and easy to learn, and it gives potent results in trauma treatment.

*Eye Movement Dessensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has become researched enough to be acknowledged as a “best practice” approach for trauma.  Research on single-session interventions wtih veterans shows that emotional distress about a veterans most traumatic memory is substantially reduced within the session.   Reseach results show EMDR to be more effective than common cognitive approaches of “flooding” and “systematic desensitization”.   EMDR is also less stressful and more comfortable, and veterans experience less anxiety in anticipation of a session.

Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) continues to emerge as a potent therapy.   Pilot studies treating veterans show that Yoga Postural exercises reduce depression but do not impact trauma symptoms.   However, SKY breathing exercises were effective in reducing insomnia,  flashbacks and  anger outburst from ptsd in veterans.

Tune in to Healing Talk Radio to find out more about brain-based trauma recovery, and the research that shows how our soldiers can be helped.   Bring them home, body, mind and spirit.

Reference to the above studies, as well as links to those that are available online are posted on the “research, sources and links” page of this website.

This program of Healing Talk Radio will broadcast on  Planetary Streams Talk Radio on Monday morning October 31st  at 9 am Mountain Time.  Healing Talk Radio is syndicated to Web Campus World Wide Radio and Shoutcast.   This program will be is restreamed three times daily for a week at 9 am, 5 pm and 2 am Mountain Time,  starting Monday October 31.  To connect to internet radio, click on the  links to the right.