Mindfulness & meditation training eases PTSD symptoms in the US military

Mindfulness meditation & the military? Not things most of us would associate. To quote one originally sceptical, 50 year old veteran, “No one wanted to do it. We thought it was a waste of time.” However, after returning from his second tour in Iraq he had changed his mind: “For me, meditation was a lifesaver."

http://m.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/mindfulness-and-meditation-training-could-ease-ptsd-symptoms-researchers-say/2013/02/16/a296a52a-4ad2-11e2-b709-667035ff9029_story.html     / 2 million American soldiers served Iraq Afghanistan several hundred thousand post traumatic PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder struggle anxiety ange, depression flashbacks nightmares ailment take years emerge treated drugs behavioral therapy approaches for many these methods don’t work researchers new methodlimit future cases ease symptoms meditation cultivating tranquillity military particular type mindfulness important therapeutic tool reduce stress increase focus practitioners mindfulness meditation focus  single thing happening in the moment breathing regular practitioners physical emotional benefits lower stress in many context Elizabeth Stanley associate professor security studies Georgetown University studies began practicing meditation soldiers dealing with the extreme stress of combat basic training fire weapon march in formation research colleagues attracted attention military leaders, commander allied forces former Army military intelligence officer scientist research collaborators psychologists neuroscientists published results pilot study mindfulness protected soldiers anxiety other stress-related negative emotions 60 Marine reservists two months of intense training before being deployed to Iraq received regular instruction mindfulness meditation asked meditate 15 minutes a day other group got no meditation training researchers found that after two months meditation group reported significantly lower levels of stress anxiety another benefit soldiers smarter improved their capacity to retain new information known as expanding their working memory participants remember letters from alphabet while doing simple arithmetic did significantly better at this task than those who didn’t receive such training meditated more did better than those who meditated less initially skeptical We thought it was a waste of time suffering from problems related to combat stress marriage was in trouble  drinking a lot constantly angry calmer less angry follow-up tests stressful experiences tend to degrade working memory what is a target what  much more focused lifesaver funded by the Department of Defense alters brain circuitry MRI scans Martin Paulus UCSD increases activity in the insula region of the brain plays a major role in the perception of bodily sensation interpreted as innocuous painful pleasurable controlling emotions Bosnia combat diagnosis PTSD doctorate in government at Harvard /