Healing Combat Trauma

Floyd "Shad" Meshad, MSW

After earning his Masters degree in Psychiatric Social Work from Florida State University in 1968, Shad went on active duty in 1969 as a Captain in the U.S. Army. In 1970, he served one tour as a Social Work/Psychology Officer for I and II Corps in the Republic of South Vietnam.

Upon his return to the states, Meshad continued his dedication to American veterans by starting the Vietnam Veterans Re-Socialization Unit at the Brentwood, CA VA Hospital in 1971. He spent eight years working with Vietnam veterans and their severe readjustment problems in the Los Angeles area. Shad was one of the pioneers in the study of the disorder known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

In the past 27 years, Shad has received many service awards and recognitions for his work. He authored a book about his year in Vietnam, Captain for Dark Mornings, which, highly acclaimed, is in its second printing. Meshad has made appearances on many major television networks and cable news talk shows, including 60 Minutes, 20/20, Dateline, Nightline, and CNN News. Shad continues to consult, train, and counsel nationally and internationally.

In 1986, Shad started a stress management and consulting service. In the early 90's he began focusing on treating compassion fatigue. This condition is identical to secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD) and is the equivalent of PTSD. It is the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized person. Through his associations, Shad introduced Charles Figley, Ph.D., a long-time friend and colleague to Dr. Roger Callahan who developed Thought Field Therapy. Dr. Callahan approached Meshad with the opportunity to study the effect of TFT therapy on veterans who suffered from PTSD. Impressed by the amazing results of this study, Shad has become a certified TFT diagnostician and practitioner, offering seminars on Levels I and II TFT nationwide.

In 2000 Shad founded Quantum Performance Institute with the goal of utilizing the amazing power of energy psychology techniques in the area of negative emotional states and attaining one's optimum performance level.

Combat Veterans at Walter Reed Give Yoga a Try

As part of our continuing series on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and veterans, linked here, there's news that a specific type of yoga called "Yoga Nidra" is being used at Walter Reed, bringing benefits to veterans who've been trying it.  An article from the Washington Post about the practice, by Eileen Rivers, called "A Breath of Hope: Walter Reed Tries Yoga to Counter PTSD," was published on May 6 and is linked here.  One nice quote from the article - the yoga teacher reports that "Students in class come up to me and say, 'I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time,' " "They say that they are more patient with their family. They're not as angry," she adds.  One of the participants mentioned in the article, combat veteran Derrick Farley, a 29 year old Army sergeant from Fort Bragg, who has deployed to Iraq three times, says that what he's learned in class has helped him cope.  He practices what he's learned, stays in touch with the other participants he's met in the program, and appreciates the chance yoga's given him to get a more restful night's sleep.  As he says as the conclusion of the article, " "It's not about finding a cure for PTSD," Farley said. "It's about learning to cope."  Excellent and well-said!

To learn more about Yoga Nidra, including trainings offered for practitioners and individuals on both coasts, check out the link to the Center for Timeless Being, located in Sebastopol, CA, linked here. Or you can pick up the CD by that center's director, Richard Miller, Ph.D., called Integrative Restoration: The Ancient Practice of Yoga Nidra for Easing Stress, Healing Trauma, and Awakening to Your Timeless Presence, linked here.

Not Specific to Combat, Research Project Studies Use of Tibetan Meditation to Treat PTSD

Although not specifically directed towards combat veterans and PTSD, a research study is currently evaluating whether Tibetan meditation has benefit for PTSD sufferers. Miami and Ohio State university researchers will use an ancient technique to address a modern problem. With a $98,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, Deborah Akers, Miami visiting assistant professor of anthropology, will work with co-researchers from Ohio State on a project titled "Treatment of Trauma Survivors: Effects of Meditation Practice on Clients' Mental Health Outcomes."  (For more information about the department conducting the study, click here.) Akers and co-researchers Moyee Lee, professor of social work, and Amy Zaharlick, professor of anthropology, will investigate the impact of Tibetan meditation on victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The project began this month and will continue for two years.

Researchers will work with a group of women diagnosed with PTSD who live in Amethyst House, a women's treatment program for alcohol and drug addiction in Columbus. Tibetan monk Geshe Kalsang Damdhul of the Institute of Higher Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India, will assist as a meditation instructor. "Participants will be taught specialized meditation techniques and will be guided through meditation for a period of six weeks," said Akers. Results could then provide a new option for treating other victims of PTSD, such as combat soldiers returning from war or victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. "This project charts new ground, bringing a holistic perspective to the treatment of PTSD," said Akers. She added that though meditation has been used in a variety of therapeutic settings in the West, such as reducing stress and coping with pain,its application in the treatment of mental illness, including PTSD, has not been extensively explored.

 

"Whereas in the West treatment of PTSD may require years of prescription medicine and counseling, the Tibetan approach has been successful within one to two years by focusing on the spiritual connection between the mind and the body that seems to allow the patient to process the trauma more effectively," said Akers. "Moreover, unlike Western medical therapies, meditation is free and can benefit individuals who cannot afford extensive therapy or medicine over long periods of time. The Tibetan approach is empowering, as it offers PTSD patients an alternative and less invasive form of therapy and enables them to participate in their own treatment." The project grew from a Miami summer field school program, "Peoples and Cultures of Tibet," conducted in Dharamsala, the residence of the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, and location of the Tibetan government in exile. During the field school, Akers and Miami students learned about how Tibetan monks minister to political prisoners and victims of torture who suffer from PTSD. For more information about the program, click here.) Several Miami pre-med and anthropology students will assist in the Columbus project, gaining hands-on research experience.

"The PTSD research project and the summer field program in Dharamsala exemplify Miami University's continuing interest in South Asia," said Akers.

Mind-Body Medicine Conference - Includes Therapies for PTSD

A conference is planned for October 25-29th in Minneapolis, MN on Mind-Body Medicine, geared towards practitioners -- training the trainers -- around the topic, "Integrating Mind-Body Medicine into Clinical Practice, Medical Education & Trauma Healing."  The conference is sponsored by James S. Gordon, M.D.'s Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C.  The Harvard-trained Gordon is a luminary in the field of mind-body medicine, having authored numerous books on the subject, been featured in Bill Moyer's PBS series, Healing and the Mind, and has been a frequent speaker at the Smithsonian, in their public lecture series.  He is a clinical professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and is the former chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.  The Center has done significant work with trauma in the Middle East, Kosovo, in Louisiana with victims of Hurricane Katrina, with 9/11 rescue workers, etc. 

The conference information is linked here. Dr. Gordon's bio is linked here.  The Center for Mind-Body Medicine is linked here.

Just Say "Om" - Yoga and Meditation for PTSD

Long before Mehmet Oz, M.D., was a regular guest on "Oprah" -- long before the Army started contemplating whether Complementary and Alternative Medicine had a place in treating PTSD, blogged about here -- there was yoga, and there was meditation.  For thousands of years, these techniques for helped adherents gain flexibility, quiet the mind, and often, restore some inner peace.  CAM for PTSD is in the news recently, but a book by well-regarded Rodale Press, from a dozen years ago, mentions both yoga and meditation, as well as sound healing, as possible therapies for PTSD.  Here's what they have to say:

Stress reduction is an essential part of recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder, says Stephen A. Nezezon, M.D., yoga teacher and staff physician at the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.  To lower stress, he says, you can try a daily routine of breathing exercises, mediation, and yoga poses.

Do the complete Yoga breath exercise (see link here) whenever you’re feeling stressed, suggests Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association.  Meditation helps clear your mind and teaches you to relax, she says.  For the poses, select three or four from a Yoga daily routine.  Christensen recommends varying the poses daily to keep your interest high and to strengthen different parts of your body.  Dr. Nezezon says you should include at least one relaxation pose, such as "the corpse" (pictured above), "knee squeeze," or "baby," in your daily yoga routine.

Dr. Nezezon also recommends doing the "alternate nostril breath" (explanation linked here) each day as a way of helping you regain emotional balance. 

Source: New Choices in Natural Healing: Over 1,800 of the Best Self-Help Remedies from the World of Alternative Medicine, Edited by Bill Gottlieb, Editor-in-Chief, Prevention Magazine Health Books.  Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, Inc. (1995).

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For more information about yoga, try these highly-rated instructional videos, produced by Gaiam, an excellent source for such material: Yoga for Beginners, Yoga for Stress Relief (with the Dalai Lama), and AM/PM Yoga For Beginners (with The Dalai Lama & 10 Routines),  You can also try reading about Yoga on About.com (linked here), subscribe to the Yoga Journal, or watch the Yoga Journal's video on Yoga for Stress.  (All hyperlinks lead you to the material described.)

 

For more information about meditation, sometimes referred to as "the inner Yoga," try these videos by Gaiam, an internationally-recognized source of high-quality instructional material about various bodywork therapies, including yoga.  Meditation for Beginners, and/or Relaxation and Breathing for Meditation.  You can also try books at Amazon.com by American author, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., featured in an excellent Bill Moyers series on PBS years ago called Healing and the Mind.  Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Kabat-Zinn teaches mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness, and leads workshops and retreats on the power of mindfulness, such as the one linked here (registration is full, but there is a waiting list).

Acupuncture May Help PTSD Sufferers

Acupuncture May Help Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

A pilot study by researchers at the University of Arizona's Department of Psychiatry shows that acupuncture may help people with posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat.

Michael Hollifield, M.D., and colleagues conducted a clinical trial examining the effect of acupuncture on the symptoms of PTSD. The researchers analyzed depression, anxiety, and impairment in 73 people with a diagnosis of PTSD. The participants were assigned to receive either acupuncture or group cognitive-behavioral therapy over 12 weeks, or were assigned to a wait-list as part of the control group. The people in the control group were offered treatment or referral for treatment at the end of their participation.

The researchers found that acupuncture provided treatment effects similar to group cognitive-behavioral therapy; both interventions were superior to the control group. Additionally, treatment effects of both the acupuncture and the group therapy were maintained for 3 months after the end of treatment.

The limitations of the study are consistent with preliminary research. For example, this study had a small group of participants that lacked diversity, and the results do not account for outside factors that may have affected the treatments' results.

Michael Hollifield, Nityamo Sinclair-Lian, Teddy D. Warner, and Richard Hammerschlag, "Acupuncture for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, June 2007.