Seattle hospital teaches meditation to troubled vets

Seattle hospital teaches meditation to troubled vets
The Seattle veterans hospital is teaching patients a form of meditation to ease their post-traumatic stress disorder. The technique called mindfulness-based stress reduction helps patients deal with anxiety, chronic pain and other health issues.
By Michelle Ma

Seattle Times staff reporter

After four combat tours — two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan — normal life seemed impossible for one Seattle Army veteran.

His heart raced when driving under an overpass, and he had trouble breathing when stuck in snarled traffic. As a soldier in combat, he wouldn't dare slow down for fear of being bombed or shot.

Crowded rooms were just as bad. He locked himself away at home and drank instead of facing large groups or loud, sudden noises. He responded to the slightest sense of threat with all-out aggression.

Last summer, the 34-year-old sergeant sought help at the Seattle veterans hospital, enrolling in group and individual therapy and starting medication to treat what doctors diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He also practices a form of meditation he learned through the VA Puget Sound Health Care System that has eased the horrific memories that bombarded his mind.
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Seattle hospital teaches meditation to troubled vets