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The U.S. military's new medical frontline
Carmel Wroth | June/July 2009 issue
Photographs: istockphoto.com/EchoArt (helmet); istockphoto.com/AlexStar (stones)
Is the U.S. military looking for enlightenment? Meditation, yoga,
acupuncture and even pet ownership are all part of a research program
funded by the Department of Defense to find new tactics for combating
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other stress-related conditions
and traumatic brain injury. "We come to it with an open mind," says Lt.
Col. Jay Stone, one of the officers in charge of funding the research.
"We want to know about all the possible treatments out there."
The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and
Traumatic Brain Injury launched the initiative, spending nearly $5
million last year—more than 10 percent of its research
budget—investigating alternative and complementary medical techniques.
The Defense Department estimates that 42,600 service members have been
diagnosed with PTSD and 36,000 with traumatic brain injury since 2001.
The current recommended treatments for PTSD include cognitive
behavioral therapy and drugs for anxiety and depression, but "these
don’t work for everybody," says Stone. "We’re always looking for
alternative treatments. Most alternative treatments have not been
rigorously studied and we want to fill that gap and fund research that
will scientifically and rigorously answer the question, Is there proof
that these methods can help?"
If the research proves conclusive when it’s completed sometime next
year, some of these alternative therapies might be included in the
Defense Department’s clinical practice guidelines. That would mean
military doctors could start prescribing them. The funded research
includes yoga, mindfulness and self-compassion meditation, acupuncture
for PTSD and a separate study for insomnia, virtual reality therapy and
pet ownership.