{"id":4361,"date":"2011-06-29T11:26:28","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/?p=4361"},"modified":"2013-01-01T17:50:34","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T22:50:34","slug":"veterans-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/research\/veterans-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Show a 50% Reduction in PTSD Symptoms After 8 Weeks of Transcendental Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Veterans of the Iraq\/Afghanistan wars showed a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0001923\/\">post-traumatic stress disorder<\/a> (PTSD), after just eight weeks of practicing the stress-reducing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/benefits-of-meditation\">Transcendental Meditation<\/a> technique, according to a pilot study published this month in Military Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>The study evaluated five veterans, ages 25- to 40-years-old, who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both, from 10 months to two years involving moderate or heavy moderate combat. The study found that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/research-on-meditation\">Transcendental Meditation<\/a> program produced significant reductions in stress and depression, and marked improvements in relationships and overall quality of life. Furthermore, the authors reported that the technique was easy to perform and was well accepted by the veterans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/PwQcxoHXC2g?rel=0&#038;showinfo=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4374\" title=\"Veteran\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Veteran1.jpg\" alt=\"Veteran\" width=\"260\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Veteran1.jpg 260w, https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Veteran1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ptsd.va.gov\/PTSD\/\/professional\/pages\/assessments\/caps.asp\">Clinician Administered PTSD Scale<\/a> (CAPS) was the primary measure for assessing the effectiveness of TM practice on PTSD symptoms. CAPS is considered by the Department of Veterans Affairs as the \u201cgold standard\u201d for PTSD assessment and diagnosis for both military Veteran and civilian trauma survivors.<\/p>\n<p>The paper\u2019s senior researcher, <a href=\"http:\/\/normanrosenthal.com\/\">Norman Rosenthal<\/a>, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and Director of Research at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ccraresearch.com\/\">Capital Clinical Research Associates<\/a> in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Rosenthal was the first to describe <a href=\"http:\/\/normanrosenthal.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/how-to-beat-seasonal-affective-disorder-winter-blues-infographic\/\">seasonal affective disorder (SAD)<\/a> and pioneered the use of light therapy as a treatment. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1585428736\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=themedroo-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399349&amp;creativeASIN=1585428736\">Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4257\" style=\"width: 179px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4257\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Norman.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Norman\" title=\"Dr. Norman\" width=\"169\" height=\"185\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4257\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4257\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Norman Rosenthal<\/p><\/div>\u201cEven though the number of veterans in this study was small, the results were very impressive,\u201d Rosenthal said. \u201cThese young men were in extreme distress as a direct result of trauma suffered during combat, and the simple and effortless Transcendental Meditation technique literally transformed their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The findings were similar to those from a randomized controlled study of Vietnam veterans conducted by researchers at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ucdenver.edu\/academics\/colleges\/medicalschool\/Pages\/somWelcome.aspx\">University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>. In that study, published in the <em>Journal of Counseling and Development<\/em> in 1985, after three months of twice-daily TM practice, the veterans had fewer symptoms than those receiving the conventional psychotherapy of the day.  In fact, most of the TM-treated subjects required no further treatment.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4381\" style=\"width: 170px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Serina-Grosswald.jpg\" alt=\"Serina-Grosswald\" title=\"Serina-Grosswald\" width=\"160\" height=\"196\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4381\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4381\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarina Grosswald, EdD.<\/p><\/div>\u201cEven though the combat experiences of OEF\/OIF (Iraq and Afghanistan wars) veterans and Vietnam veterans are quite different, the fact that our study corroborates the results of the previous study tells us that this technique has the potential to be an effective tool against PTSD and combat stress, regardless of combat situation,\u201d explained Sarina Grosswald, EdD, co-researcher on the study.<\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal hypothesizes that the Transcendental Meditation technique helps people with PTSD because regular practice produces long-term changes in sympathetic nervous system activity, as evidenced by decreased blood pressure, and lower reactivity to stress. \u201cTranscendental Meditation quiets down the nervous system, and slows down the \u2018fight-or-flight\u2019 response,\u201d he said.  People with PTSD show overactive fight-or-flight responses, making them excellent candidates for Transcendental Meditation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4384\" title=\"PTSD\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/PTSD.jpg\" alt=\"PTSD\" width=\"160\" height=\"130\" \/>Rosenthal points out that there is an urgent need to find effective and cost-effective treatments for veterans with combat-related PTSD. \u201cThe condition is common, affecting an estimated one in seven deployed soldiers and Marines, most of whom do not get adequate treatment.  So far, only one treatment\u2014simulation exposure to battleground scenes\u2014has been deemed effective, but it requires specialized software and hardware, trained personnel, and is labor intensive. \u201cBased on our study and previous findings, I believe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/research-on-meditation\">Transcendental Meditation<\/a> certainly warrants further study for combat-related PTSD,\u201d says Rosenthal.<\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<p><em>Military Medicine<\/em><br \/>\nRosenthal J, et al &#8220;Effects of transcendental meditation (TM) in veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a pilot study&#8221; <em>Military Medicine<\/em> 2011; 176: 626-630.<\/p>\n<p><em>Journal of Counseling and Adjustment <\/em><br \/>\nBrooks, J.S., &amp; Scarano, T. Transcendental meditation in the treatment of post-vietnam adjustment. <em>Journal of Counseling and Adjustment<\/em>, 64, 212-215, 1985.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Veterans of the Iraq\/Afghanistan wars showed a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after just eight weeks of practicing the stress-reducing&#8230;<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/research\/veterans-ptsd\/\">Read more <\/a><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_excerpt -->","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[69,97,301],"class_list":["post-4361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-health","tag-ptsd","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}