Alternative Treatments for PTSD

Alternative Treatments for PTSD
Treatment Types for PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
by Emily

Doctors have been studying alternative treatment for PTSD for some time now. Acupuncture, meditation, and even K-9 companions are all some of the methods being employed and studied by more open-minded physicians and patients. There have been multiple studies by very reputable sources suggesting the effectiveness of alternative treatments for PTSD. The pentagon spent $5 million researching yoga, meditation, and animal companions as treatment for PTSD. PTSD is a diverse order, and thus requires diversity in treatment.

Acupuncture is a widely regarded, yet still largely unknown treatment method for PTSD. In the study, “Acupuncture for post-traumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled pilot trial,” by physicians Hollifield M, Sinclair lian, Warner TD, Hammerschlag R, they concluded; “Acupuncture may be an efficacious and acceptable nonexposure treatment option for PTSD.” Jillian L Capodice LAc reports in her article “Acupuncture and [PTSD]” that 14 out of 16 patients self-reported reduced symptoms, in a non-clinical trial.

Expediency is another possible benefit of acupuncture treatment. Army psychiatric specialist, Col. Charles Engel, revealed that some early research seemed to imply that when soldiers with PTSD were treated with acupuncture, “improvements were relatively rapid and clinically significant.” Obviously there’s a lot of research to be done in order to discover the efficiency in which PTSD can be treated by acupuncture, but the need for research into this option is evident.

Use of mantram repetition, which is a form of meditation, also seemed to indicate a successful impact on relieving the symptoms of PTSD. As part of the “Veterans Health Administration Office Of Patient Are Services Technology Assessment Program” Elizabeth Adams, MPH, put together an article entitled “Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” The article suggests that use of mantram repetition, saw 86% of program participants report “moderate to high satisfaction. The article concluded “Mantram is a promising, complementary intervention for treatment of PTSD in older Veterans, and Veterans were satisfied with the program. Further research in larger RCTs is warranted.”

Angel Morrow’s an Army Sgt. who worked on the front-lines as a medic. She saw a heart-breaking amount of death, but it was when a fellow soldier she had treated for PTSD, took his own life outside her office door, she began to suffer from the disorder herself.

“I did everything I could for him,” she recounts.
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Submitted By: NamGuardianAngel on September 11, 2009 About the Video: When National Guards go to Iraq or Afghanistan, they serve with the regular military but have to come home, back to police departments, fire departments and responding to natural traumatic events. What we don't think about is that they are also bring the war back home inside of them, but doing what they always do. Being there when we need them.