The Uncarved Blog

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique were reported in all four Military Times publications in the last 30 days. The Gannett Govt Media Corp publications: Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times, Army Times, and Navy Times, published an article, December 27, 2010, page 3, in their Off Duty section, WatchList: Things You Should be Tracking titled: Transcending trauma: Group hopes to teach 10,000 vets to meditate. It discussed the David Lynch Foundation’s recent launch of Operation Warrior Wellness. 

Although it is a well-written and positive article, Dr. Matthew Friedman, executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD, was quoted as saying: “There are no published randomized clinical trials testing transcendental meditation for PTSD.”

Col. (Dr.) Brian M. Rees, Army Reserve, and David Leffler, (PhD) coauthored a Letter to the Editor, published Friday, Jan 21, 2011 in the Marine Corps Times and the Navy Times on page 5 in Opening Shots. The letter, Meditation studied in ’85, informed Dr. Friedman of a random assignment study of Vietnam veterans published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Counseling and Development. The study found the Transcendental Meditation technique to be effective against PTSD. Significant reductions in emotional numbness, anxiety, startle response, depression, alcohol consumption, insomnia, and family problems, and improvements in sleep and obtaining/keeping employment, were noted, and 70% of the meditators reported they no longer required the services of the veteran’s center.

An omitted section of the original letter discussed a new pilot study by Rosenthal J, Grosswald SJ, Ross R, and Rosenthal N, titled: “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,” 2010 (in review). In this study, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experienced a 50% drop in PTSD symptoms by the 4th week, with greater improvements by the 2nd and 3rd months. The study is summarized in Jerry Yellin and Sarina Grosswald‘s new book, The Resilient Warrior: Healing the Hidden Wounds of War (2011). Drs. Rosenthal and Grosswald also discuss this devastating problem and the promising results of their pilot study in the video: Reduction of PTSD Symptoms in Veterans with Transcendental Meditation.

Here is the original version of the Rees-Leffler letter: Meditation Effective PTSD Treatment. David Leffler, executive director of the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS), provides more information on TM and PTSD at: http://davidleffler.com/combat-stress-solution.html.

See this powerful personal account: Veteran Dan Burks on Overcoming the Stresses of War with Transcendental Meditation.

And these reports: Dec 14, 2010, Military.com, Celebs, Vets Promote Meditation for PTSD, Dec 15, 2010, On Patrol, Fighting PTSD with Transcendental Meditation, and Jan 5, 2011, Veterans’ Children, Making Transcendental Meditation Available to Veterans.

See Launching ‘Operation Warrior Wellness” — VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS Bringing TM to Veterans suffering from PTSD.

Also see Jerry Yellin: Healing the Hidden Wounds of War, WW II veteran publishes The Resilient Warrior: Healing the Hidden Wounds of War and Jerry Yellin discusses Operation Warrior Wellness.

Tags: David Lynch Foundation, Operation Warrior Wellenss, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, TM, Transcendental Meditation, veterans of wars

This entry was posted on January 22, 2011 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Articles, David Lynch Foundation, Health, Peace, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.