Healing Combat Trauma

At Last, Some Good News: A Personal "Before" and "After" in the Life of Someone with PTSD...

There's a lot of bad news going around: suicides up, PTSD wrecking lives and families, not much constructive help in sight. But here's a story that's GOOD news...about how much progress one combat vet with severe, chronic PTSD -- for 40 years(!) -- made in just a year of trying integrative medicine techniques and therapies, in addition to his medication. (He was able to lower his psych meds to an absolute minimum as part of the progress.)

At the end of year one, I asked him to write up his experience so he could contrast, for himself, a personal "before" and "after." Knowing him and the story, I know that he left out the highest highs and the lowest lows, but still, it paints a powerful picture of one life substantially freed from the ongoing torment of PTSD.

If you want a little backstory on who Pat is, he's the author of the "Eyewitness to Combat" selections on this site. Read those, linked here, for background about his tours in Vietnam and the after-effects of PTSD in his life. (That's him in the photo at left.)

Here's the letter:

    Healing Combat Trauma

     Re: Alternative Modality Treatments for PTSD

 Dear Ms. Lily G. Casura,

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES?  It has been one year ago that I first made contact with the web site “Healing Combat Trauma” in an effort to find out information on the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  As back-story, I was a Disabled Vietnam Combat Vet.  I was attached to “Flames”, 2^nd Battalion, 9^th Marines (Hell in a Helmet) my first tour of duty and with “Bravo” Co., 1^st Battalion, 9^th Marines (Walking Dead) my second tour of duty.  It was during this second tour of combat that I was wounded three different times in a battle with North Vietnamese Army troops on Hill 881 north of Khe Sanh.  I spent another seventeen months recovering in various Navy and VA hospitals and was partially paralyzed for five additional years during which time I married, attended college and received a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Forestry.

From the time I got back from Vietnam, I suffered from mild to severe to devastating symptoms of what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but was not even recognized as a mental disorder much less treated until twenty five years after the fact.  The further I moved from the date of my deployment to Southeast Asia, the more intense the symptoms became and the more aggressive and destructive my behavior evolved into.  Not knowing that I was suffering from a “disorder” which affected all of my fellow combat veterans, I simply assumed I was going “Crazy”, just being a “Marine”, and was of course a “fucked up Vietnam Vet”.  I made no apologies for my behavior because my close friends, all former combat vets, were exactly like me and what we did was “normal” for us.  It was the rest of the “world” that was screwed up including our wives.

However as the years rolled by it became clear that a definite pattern of cyclic behavior, action, response, aggression and consequence began to manifest itself.  Regardless of determination, courage, education, competence, and ability; quality jobs lasted on the average of no more than an eighteen months and no less than one year.  They averaged about thirteen months, the same as the Marine Corps Tours of Duty in “The Nam”.  I was excellent and even exceptional at all of the tasks of my profession but could never become acclimate to following “orders” by anyone in “authority”.   I just wanted to be left alone to “do my job”. 

Not only did the patterns of behavior and consequence continue to recycle in my and my family’s life, they intensified with each cycle and became more and more destructive as time went on.  This resulted in extreme “guilt” and “withdrawal” and developed into a “hatred” for anyone who had not gone into “combat” in Vietnam.  They had not been where I had been and had absolutely not “earned the right” to judge me or criticize me for my actions.  Raising five children was a huge financial burden which weighed heavily upon me because I knew that I was not going to be able to work for anyone but took as many labor jobs and engages in as many “self employment” activities as I could. 

Twenty five years into this self destructive lifestyle and monumental stressor left me broke, unemployed and unemployable, family in constant turmoil, physically ill with heart disease and arthritis, and mentally devastated with depression and constant suicidal thoughts.  It was then that I was told that the VA had identified PTSD in 1976 but was reluctant to let veterans know because of the reality of paying disability to them.  So it was suppressed from us.  Even so the treatment they were then engaged in was a combination of “physiological and therapeutic drug” treatments.  I entered their treatment program in a desperate effort to save my family and my own life.  I was diagnosed with severe PTSD and rated 100%.  And it had already taken its tool on me.  I ended up with two quadruple heart bypasses, congestive heart disease, electro-cardial heart failure requiring radical clinical trial surgery and pacemaker, Rheumatoid Arthritis destroying my body and severe clinical depression.   The VA solution was to continue the “group sessions”, the “physiological counseling”, and increasing the amount of “physic” drugs I was to take.  I literally became a drooling “zombie” unable to carry on a coherent conversation, unable to remember what anyone was saying to me, looking at everything in a blur of fog and sleeping 20 hours per day.  The VA had essentially “locked” me up in a “mental institution” and thrown away the key.

My family went on with their lives and I became an invalid.  Then my almost grown kids began to experience the exact same symptoms of PTSD that I was having.  I just quit taking the “meds” and actually “awakened” enough to realize that one of them was about to kill himself.  I began to desperately search the interned for anything that could save my boy and me.  If he killed himself, I would do the same but go out in a “blaze of glory”, taking those with me whom I blamed for the hell we were living. 

This is when I came upon a “web blog” called “HEALING COMBAT TRAUMA”.  As I began to read the blogs, I became not only interested but engrossed in and awe struck by the intuitive content of it.  Whoever wrote the blog KNEW what living with PTSD was like and began to cry.  This was not someone who had been educated about it, this is someone who had LIVED with it but was incredibly intelligent and understanding.  As I read, I began to understand what was going on with me, my wife and my children.  I began to “believe” that there really was another way to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder besides being quizzed about how bad your father treated you and then prescribed “killer” drugs.  The quality of the web site and the professionalism of it made me believe that this “Company” had a huge staff of Doctors, technical staff and alternative modality practitioners.   They most probably would not even be interested in me.  Hesitantly, I contacted the individual listed on the contact page.  Beyond belief, she answered me.

I waited a while to answer back because I was embarrassed to have even made contact.  It was a “Don’t hang your dirty laundry out in public” sort of thing.  My life was so complicated and I had spent forty years trying to put it down in writing to find the magic answer to it.  I asked if she would be interested in reviewing my much self-edited draft and this lady said YES.  Wow I was excited and flabbergasted.  Maybe there was help coming that I could share with my family, my son in particular to let him know there was real HOPE.  And I could take this “hope” to the remaining Nam buddies who were still alive.  Most had committed suicide, at least fourteen, in the last twenty years.

Lily Casura took a sincere interest in my “story” and in my plight.  Her interest was genuine and not usury.  I knew that if what she said were true, then she needed to take this program to the rest of the mentally wounded souls still living from Vietnam, and to the Desert Storm and Iraq and Afghanistan warriors.  But I had been “screwed” by so many “too good to be true” schemes from religion to insurance that I wanted to be shown.  My challenge to her was: “If you can heal me, you can heal anyone”!  She accepted and our journey into absolute “HEALING” began.  The road was rocky as she got to actually experience the “ups and downs”, the “rages”, the inconsistencies of working with an actual Marine Corps combat vet.  It was a wild ride for both of us to say the least as I “spoofed” most of the treatments as something that a real “Marine” would never do; especially some of the “Yoga” exercises.   However, as I was moved through them one by one, I began to “feel” much differently and I began to “change”.  I felt physically better and mentally at peace.  Something I had not experienced in forty years.  I became a true “BELIEVER” and want to share it with the world.

What a difference a year makes? One year ago I was suicidal, physically dieing from multiple illnesses and immobile.  My heart has stopped eight times and had to be resuscitated.   My family was suffering from depression and my son was on the verge of killing himself.  I had no Hope, no future, no purpose and no reason to live.

One year later, I am disease free; my Rheumatoid Arthritis has been declared in complete remission, my heart has actually healed itself, my arteries are completely free of plaque, the acute pain that I have always had is no longer there, my anger is gone, my mind is at complete peace, my son is fine, my family is happy, I am thrilled at every day I am here, I have hope in a wonderful future for me, my family and my fellow vets.  I was taking over 58 prescribed medications one year ago; I am taking nine now.  I was taking huge doses of prescribed pain medications and ongoing treatments for the same.  I no longer have any pain, do not take any of the medications and no longer need the treatments.

The Difference One Year Makes: I was dead and now I’m alive!  That’s the Difference!

Thank you, Lily, for saving my life and for giving me HOPE and a FUTURE. I am, for the first time in my life, looking forward to the rest of my life, and can't wait to see the difference one more year will make.  

 

Patrick ______________.

Sgt., USMC

Bravo Co., 1^st Battalion, 9^th Marines

Vietnam 1966 and 1967

The Beneficial "Moving Meditation" of Qi Gong

When April Fool's Day rolled around, one world-famous T'ai Chi teacher had this as his status update: "April 24th is 'World T'ai Chi and Qi Gong Day. (It is, by the way.) Brazil has declared it a national holiday, Utah has recognized it, and [name of giant pharmaceutical company] has filed a preliminary injunction against it."

(Anyone who's ever observed the battle between Western medicine and Complementary and Alternative medicine or "CAM" would get that joke... We've come to expect peace of mind in a pill, not in a lifestyle practice or an exercise that can reduce stress and improve immunity.)

T'ai Chi and Qi Gong are both ancient Chinese practices. T'ai Chi is more correctly a type of martial arts, and Qi Gong is often termed "a moving meditation." "Qi" is the word for what the Chinese see as the "life-force energy." This same Qi (or Chi) is what acupuncture moves along energy meridians. Qi Gong is one of several practices, including T'ai Chi and Yoga, that are effective at relaxing "body, mind and spirit." Unlike the other two, however, Qi Gong is less demanding physically, so can be done by a broader range of people, including seniors and the disabled.

In "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine," Tom Williams, Ph.D., writes about these arts, "In many ways Qi Gong and T'ai Chi represent the paradox that is central to the whole way of thinking in Chinese medicine. These practices are so gentle and apparently effortless, yet they are in fact inordinately powerful and bring tremendous benefit to anyone who adopts them as part of a regular healthcare strategy."

As the Wall Street Journal reported last year, "Alternative medicine is mainstream. The evidence is mounting that diet and lifestyle (including practices such as Qi Gong, T'ai Chi and Yoga) are the best cures for the worst afflictions."

There's much to be said on behalf of this multi-thousand-year-old practice, which 100 million Chinese who practice it daily in parks, both morning and evening. It's a low-cost "health care system" that's available to all. Unlike the more rigorous T'ai Chi, Qi Gong can be done standing, or even sitting in a chair. It can be learned in a class, or at home with a DVD. There is a selection of DVDs likely to be found at your local library; and online at Amazon.com, at Gaiam.com, and at ExerciseToHeal.com. 

Lee Holden, who had a show on PBS about Qi Gong, talks about how Qi Gong leaves you "relaxed, balanced and energized." When I asked Holden which of his dozen or more DVDs he would suggest for people struggling with PTSD, he recommended "Stress Relief Qi Gong," among others. (His DVDs are available on his website, linked here.) 

Why would Qi Gong practice be particularly beneficial for veterans with PTSD? Holden clarifies:

"Qi Gong switches the nervous system from the stress related ‘fight or flight’ mode to the restorative healing mode of the parasympathetic branch. EEG shows that, in people practicing Qi Gong, the cerebral cortex enters a state of calm that few people experience, even in sleep."

(Holden is also the author of "Seven Minutes of Magic: Recharge Your Body Each Day with Qi Gong," linked here.)

Here's a sample from that DVD:

Aspects of Qi Gong, especially its less rigorous nature, combined with its health benefits, including stress reduction, make it a good fit for veterans. Leading a Vietnam combat veteran through some a Qi Gong routine, as we both followed along with a Lee Holden DVD, I asked him how he felt afterwards: "Great!" was his response. He had tried T'ai Chi, but found that he and other vets could not adapt quickly enough to it.

In my own battle with chronic fatigue syndrome years ago, after trying the best of Western and Eastern medicine, I found that it was T'ai Chi and Qi Gong that "built energy" and "moved energy" that allowed me finally to recover.I had the good fortune to take instruction in person from a wonderful instructor who adapted her instruction to even those in chronic pain, and I remember that we could do the Qi Gong exercises sitting down, and yet still experience the benefits. If you're in the Seattle, Wash. area and you can go in person to a class, I recommend Kim Ivy at Embrace the Moon, because I know her work. But if you have to get your instruction from a DVD, Lee Holden and Francisco Garripoli are highly recommended.

For more information about Qi Gong and its health benefits, there's one website in particular that's a treasure trove of information: the Qigong Institute, and it's linked here. I would also suggest reading what Lee Holden has written about it, linked here.

(Note that you may find Qi Gong spelled several different ways, including "Qigong" and "Chi Kung.")

Finally, here are two informational videos that describe a little bit more about what Qi Gong is and what the experience of practicing it is like:

and

Quotable Quotes -- The Healing Process

"Heal the traumas, and the person's natural processes take over and the diseases fade away. The healing treats the traumas, and then the body naturally does what it was prevented from doing by the trauma. My friends in other therapies essentially follow this process. Healers do it. Massage therapists do it. Osteopaths do it. Psychotherapists do it in one way or another. That is the universal process we all have to go through to recover from trauma and live our lives to the full." -- Peter Chappell, "Emotional Healing with Homeopathy: Treating the Effects of Trauma."

The Dept. of "No Real Surprises Here": Chiropractic Doesn't Help Veterans Suffering from PTSD

An article in the current issue -- June, 2009 -- of Military Medicine takes a look at the effects of chiropractic on veterans with PTSD, and finds the results lacking.  The study is called "A cross-sectional analysis of clinical outcomes following chiropractic care in veterans with and without post-traumatic stress disorder,” and it was authored by Drs. Andrew Dunn, Steven Passmore, Jeanmarie Burke and New York Chiropractic College student David Chicoine.

According to an article in trade publication ChiroEco.com, that study "investigates clinical outcomes for 130 veteran patients with neck or low back complaints at the VA of Western New York. This study found that patients with post-traumatic stress disorder had significantly lower lower levels of improvement than those without post-traumatic stress disorder on self-reported outcome measures of neck and low back disability."

These results are not really surprising, because -- unlike another form of bodywork, massage therapy, which does have proven results for helping PTSD symptoms -- there's nothing about chiropractic per se that indicates it would be helpful. Spinal subluxations, while combat veterans may be experiencing them, aren't really part of the PTSD profile, and relieving them wouldn't necessarily have any effect whatsoever on reducing PTSD symptoms.  They're just not related. That said, it's progress that chiropractic is offered in military health care settings, and we're sure it brings combat veterans some relief -- in the appropriate context, which PTSD is not.

For a look at complementary and alternative medicine therapies ("CAM") that have shown benefit in treating PTSD, click here.  For a look at bodywork therapies, click here.  For a look at mind-body medicine approaches, click here.  To read the article in ChiroEco.com, click here.

Combat Veterans, PTSD and Acupuncture

We've written about acupuncture before on this blog, in posts linked here. And an article in the current issue of "Acupuncture Today" magazine (May, 2009) discusses -- tangentially -- the use of acupuncture for PTSD.  It especially emphasizes the costs savings, particularly when used as a form of pain control (a typical use of traditional acupuncture, known as TCM). Here's a story, though, that shows the human side of acupuncture's worth for a combat veteran.

Recently I met a Marine who was part of a wounded warriors unit.  I won't say who he was or where he was located, to protect his privacy, but he had completed several hazardous deployments in Iraq and had come back to the Marine base to continue his service. I happened to learn that he sampled a few modalities from the "complementary and alternative medicine" spectrum we've discussed on this blog before, and one of the therapies he'd tried was acupuncture.  I happened to catch him in an unguarded moment, when he had his mind on other things (what amount to pain control, at the time) and I asked him to describe his experience, because I wasn't sure who he'd seen or what type of acupuncture it had been.  He described that he'd been interested in checking it out, but that the commanding officer  had considered it to be some form of "voodoo," so was pretty much against it.  But there was one acupuncturist from the town near the base who was willing to come on base and offer it, and do that for free.  So that removed some of the initial barriers to trying it, and the commander okayed it.  With those circumstances in mind, I asked him what his experience was like.  This is what he said:

"After she stuck me (needled me), I went back out to my truck, and I just sat there, for about an hour and a half, just GLOWING (his words.)."  His eyes moistened briefly as he said, "I realized it was the first time I had felt happy in two and a half years," he volunteered, continuing, "I had forgotten what it was it like to feel real joy."

I couldn't leave well enough alone -- I had to track down the acupuncturist he'd seen.  I figured out who she was, called her up, she answered the phone, we identified him as the patient in question, and then had a brief conversation about what he'd shared.  She told me she had goosebumps from hearing the story, which she hadn't known before, and added, "this is why we do what we do."

With all the lip service -- and, one hopes, quite a bit more than that -- these days being paid to treating combat veterans in more comprehensive ways that meet their needs better, I hope ancient methods will merit due consideration.  When I remember this short conversation with the very much moved Marine, it's hard not to appreciate its merits. Neatly, there are several types of acupuncture -- one which specializes in addiction treatment, one which focuses on treating body, mind and spirit, and a general, all-pupose form (along with many others).  With many offerings to choose from, and increasingly more research to support its efficacy, acupuncture truly deserves a place at the table in treating the hidden wounds of combat veterans.  I have only to remember the glow in this Marine's retelling of his experience to remember why.

EFT: "Emotional Freedom Technique" for Combat Veterans

If you know anyone who's watched "The Secret," with its emphasis on "the Law of Attraction" -- heck, if you know anyone who's watched Oprah, who promoted "The Secret" extensively on her shows -- you know someone who's probably heard of EFT.

What you might not realize is there's a body of work developing that shows its effectiveness with PTSD.  And some of its biggest fans are the veterans themselves, who've tried it.

"EFT," or "Emotional Freedom Technique," is a form of what's known as "energy psychology," or "energy work."  It was developed by a Stanford engineer -- note, not a psychologist -- Gary Craig, who calls it accurately "a needle-free form of acupuncture."

Craig and EFT practitioners have done some remarkable work with PTSD veterans.  If this subject interests you, or you've looked into various forms of treatment before, and you're even slightly open-minded about trying something with a large upside and very little (or nonexistent) downside, this video in particular is worth watching.  Here's the link. 

The most moving part of the video, in my opinion, is the obvious before and after shots of the veterans themselves, going from visibly struggling, to visibly coping, in very short amounts of time. The excitement of a family member, shown later on the video, is also palpable.  A few studies have also been done on EFT and PTSD -- a book has also just been published -- with more studies to come.  The results are refreshingly impressive, though, for such a low-tech technique.  According to the video, veterans report symptoms drop 63% after treatment, according to a self-reporting scale used by the military.  Symptoms of depression and anxiety reduced by 50%, on average. Cortisol levels -- we've talked about their significance here, here and here -- drop 25% after one hour-long treatment.

Watch the video first, to orient yourself as to what EFT is and how the sample of combat veterans from various wars -- Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq -- responded to it. Then, to learn more, here's an article from the Scottish press about a combat vet and his experience with it.  Here's a story about a Vietnam vet and his experience with EFT. There's a new book by Gary Craig on EFT for PTSD. If you're a veteran, there's a study you can be part of that we blogged about the other day, and that study includes several sessions of EFT. (That post is linked here.)

But if you're intrigued -- after watching the video -- and you want to know more, you probably want to find an EFT practitioner to try it out with.  There's a subset of practitioners listed on the Web, linked  here, who are interested in working with veterans, including -- gasp! -- some who already work at the VA.  If there's no one in your area, you could try this link instead, to find an EFT practitioner who may not have a special interest in veterans, and yet could introduce you to the practice.  It seems to be something low-tech, affordable, simple to learn, and an after an initial introduction, very much DIY (Do It Yourself).  Practitioners may also be willing to negotiate or lower their fees for veterans: Ask.

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Editor's note: Talking about EFT, or any other technique, should not imply or be misread as an endorsement. In any case, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

 

Veterans Sought for National Clinical Study on EFT and Combat Trauma

Veterans sought for combat stress study

Veterans from wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan may be eligible to participate in a clinical study investigating the effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) at releasing combat-related stress, trauma and memories.

Qualifying veterans will receive six free private sessions of EFT with a professionally trained coach, including follow-up assessments after 3-6 months.

Combat-related conditions include insomnia and/or nightmares, drug and/or alcohol dependencies, anger, anxiety, depression, paranoia, obsessive compulsive behavior, panic attacks, phobias, rage, grief, survivor’s guilt, feelings of isolation or jumpiness around people.

The study is organized and sponsored by the Iraq Vets Stress Project (http://www.StressProject.org), a project of Soul Medicine Institute, a nonprofit research corporation.

For more information contact Susan Maloney, an integral life coach and EFT practitioner, at (707) 888-0246 or susan@susanmaloney.com.

An Over-Reliance on Expecting Medication Alone to Fix What's Broken

I really should be packing for a conference, not figuring out more stuff to blog about, but I saw an item in today's Boston Globe that I just couldn't resist, because it speaks so closely to what we're talking about on this blog. A woman pediatrician wrote an OpEd piece, in part, about the insufficiency of the strictly pharmacological solution for healing a broken childhood. 

In our case, since we're talking about combat trauma, the target is different, but the concept is identical.  Read what she has to say, and then think of the ways this applies to healing combat trauma.  Far too many health care providers -- and even veterans and their families -- are putting their faith exclusively in a pharmaceutical solution.  It isn't a Tom Cruise point to say, that's not really going to do the whole job. 

As we've seen and heard from too many veterans, the trouble with pharmaceuticals alone are many and varied...from giving veterans a grab bag of ones to mix and match and medicate themselves (yikes)...to the dangers of over-medicating (numbing out, not feeling like themselves) and under-medicating (well, that hardly ever happens, but still...)  Anyway...here's the pediatrician's extended commentary.  Make the application to veterans suffering from combat trauma and you'll see what we mean:

On one recent day in my pediatric practice, I saw or spoke with parents of eight children who had experienced a range of significant trauma. One was in foster care after living on the streets with drug-abusing parents. Some had been adopted following severe abuse and neglect. One had recently lost a parent to death, one had been abandoned by a parent. They were failing in school, impulsive, distracted, angry, and depressed. They were receiving minimal to no mental health support.

What they all had in common was a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Each parent expected that I would either: refill the medication, change the medication, change the dose of medication, or have the medication given at a different time.

When I suggested that medication alone was not the solution, I ran into walls. One mother had tried to get an appointment with a child psychiatrist, but the only one in town who accepted her insurance wasn't taking any new patients. My attempts to refer families for therapy were thwarted by many things, including lack of time and clinicians who did not take their insurance. One parent was irate that I asked so many questions and didn't just refill the prescription. These parents were discouraged and angry, and by the end of the day, so was I.

Our society has bought into a belief that manipulating medications will fix these complex problems. Not only parents, but teachers, physicians, and certainly the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries join in promoting this expectation. With our overreliance on psychoactive medication, we have created another Ponzi scheme where, just as Bernard Madoff's investment fund was not really earning any money, we are fooling ourselves into thinking that we are helping these children in any significant way.

Interesting and poignant, on so many levels.  The expectation, impatience and frustration of the patients' families, that manipulating the patients' biochemistry was the only "solution" expected or desired; the practitioner's frustration that she couldn't refer effectively to other providers who might have helped; and the generalized problem with only seeing a headache as an Excedrin deficit, so to speak, rather than looking for the broader understanding of what's sometimes at work with a specific symptom.

Fortunately there are complementary and alternative medicine ("CAM") modalities, including mind-body medicine, that look for and deliver other solutions, often by taking a more "holistic" view of the problem itself.  Not as a symptom that exists in a vacuum, but one that is part of an overall gestalt of the person's total physiological, psychological, spiritual and emotional health.

There's a form of acupuncture that professes to treat "body, mind and spirit."  I once questioned a practitioner of this type about what percentage of ailments patients present with that she would ascribe to each.  Interestingly, her response was that MOST patients' symptoms, well over 90%, according to their practice's teachings, were actually spiritual in nature.   Hmmmn. Even if only 10% were, even if only 1% were, think how inadequate a purely pharmacological solution would be.

With something as complex as combat trauma, it's just another reminder -- this time from a superficially unrelated source -- to look beyond a single, too-simple, purely pharmaceutically-based solution, to something that captures the more complex, multifactorial experience of being human.

Vietnam Veteran Turns to Acupuncture, Qi Gong and Yoga for Relief from PTSD

We've been discussing various forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or "CAM" for short, which seem to have potential therapeutic usefulnessness for treating PTSD.  Here's a mention in a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune of March 14, 2008, of other Eastern methods, including the energetic medicine, "Qi Gong," which appear to have brought some relief to one Vietnam war-era nurse.  From an article by Matthew D. LaPlante:

Mary Jane Shipley is a 62-year-old former trauma nurse who was stationed at a mobile Army hospital in Vung Tau, Vietnam. 

Shipley's "eyes well with tears," LaPlante writes, at the recollection of the young men she watched die there, burnt and broken and missing pieces of their bodies as they faded away." 

He continues, "Shipley says she knew almost immediately after returning home there was something wrong with her. In part, it was the helicopters. She could hear them, even smell them, ferrying patients to the Salt Lake City hospital where she worked - sometimes minutes before any of her associates could."

Her other symptoms are hallmarks of PTSD: "She had trouble relating to other people. She was restless. She was constantly afraid. Perhaps to the eyes of today's doctors and nurses, Shipley's illness would have been obvious. But back then, no one reached out."

In Shipley's case, according to LaPlante, "It took her 30 years to realize she wasn't alone. Now in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the Western-trained nurse has found Eastern therapies to be most helpful. She practices yoga and qigong. And at least twice a week, she undergoes acupuncture. "It took me so long to figure out what works for me," Shipley laments, "and I still have so much trouble."

In Honor of Veterans Day: Community Acupuncture Clinics for Veterans

In honor of Veterans Day, Acupuncture without Borders is holding community acupuncture clinics for veterans in the following cities:

Newark, CA;

West Los Angeles, CA;

Stamford, CT;

Ft. Lauderdale, FL;

St. Augustine, FL;

St. Petersburg, FL;

Tamarac, FL;

Boston, MA;

Cambridge, MA;

Albuquerque, NM;

Santa Fe, NM;

Carson City, NV;

New York, NY;

Glenside, PA;

McLean, VA;

Longview, WA;

Seattle, WA; and

Racine, WI.

For more information on these clinics, click here.  NOTE: Do not assume that they are each being held on Veterans Day itself.  Most are held on a day either before or after, so check the schedule first several days in advance by clicking the aforementioned link.

Editor's note: For more on why acupuncture might be a suitable or interesting treatment modality for combat trauma and/or PTSD, click here.