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Veterans – PTSD

You’ve seen the strained look on her face. She’s far away. She doesn’t sleep well and sits around all day doing nothing. She’s always tired. You’ve invited her to the things she loves doing, but she never feels like doing them anymore. Sometimes she yells a lot—really overreacts. But when you ask her what’s wrong, she denies any problems.

You’re happy she is back from Iraq, but you thought it would be different. You thought you could get back to normal.

You thought that having her home safe would make both of you happy again. She’s not at war anymore—why is she acting this way?

Your loved one may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Many veterans suffer from PTSD. The Veterans Administration (VA) reports that as many as 11-20% of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have it. Common war traumas include having been shot at, having seen someone shot or having seen death, but another cause of PTSD in veterans is military sexual trauma (MST). According to the VA, 23% of women in the military report sexual assault.

These numbers are scary but the good news is that there is help. There are even free clinics that provide acupuncture.

What is PTSD?

PTSD is a physiological disorder that can result from being exposed to a traumatic event. The disorder results in several different symptoms.

  • Re-experiencing.  Some PTSD sufferers relive the traumatic event over and over. This can be in the form of bad memories, nightmares and flashbacks. Sights, sounds and smells can trigger re-experiencing the event.
  • Avoidance. Sometimes people with PTSD avoid the people, places and events that remind them of what happened.
  • Numbing.  Symptoms of numbing include trouble expressing emotions, loss of interest in enjoyable activities, and the loss of memory of parts of the traumatic event.
  • Arousal. Anger, irritability, trouble sleeping, trouble concentrating, feeling on guard and being easily startled or surprised are common arousal symptoms.

The effects of post-traumatic stress disorder in someone’s life can be far reaching. Feelings of hopelessness, shame and despair, problems at work or with relationships, serious health problems, depression, anxiety and drug or alcohol abuse are not uncommon.

How Can I Help my Friend or Relative with PTSD?

There are many ways you can help your friend or relative with PTSD.

  • Learn everything you can about PTSD so you have a good idea what your friend is going through.
  • Offer to go to doctor visits with your friend.       Help keep track of medications and therapy. If your friend is learning new techniques to cope with stress, ask if there is any way you can help.
  • Be available to listen, but be understanding if your friend doesn’t want to talk. Listen with an open heart. Don’t judge, argue or problem-solve. Listen with compassion.
  • Plan fun activities together. Be aware of events or environments that are difficult and plan events to be as stress-free as possible.
  • Encourage your friend to get support from family and other friends.
  • Pay attention to any comments about hurting herself and report them to her therapist or doctor.

Sometimes supporting someone with PTSD is challenging. Get support for yourself so you are able to help your loved one. Seek safety and help immediately if your friend or relative becomes violent or threatening.

PTSD Crisis Resources

If you or your loved one is in crisis:

  • Call 911.
  • Go to your nearest Emergency Room.
  • Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255). Press “1” if you are a veteran.
  • Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in Spanish/Español 1-888-628-9454.
  • Go to the Veterans Crisis Line website to chat live with a crisis counselor at any time of day or night.

 

There are many new treatments available for soldiers and veterans suffering PTSD. The Veterans Administration has information about some of the therapies that have been most effective.

Acupuncture for PTSD

The Military Stress Recovery Project (MSRP) is a unique program that provides free community acupuncture to veterans and active duty soldiers with PTSD and their family members.

MSRP has its roots in helping hurricane victims. In 2005, Diana Fried organized Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) to bring free community acupuncture to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. With the success of this program, Diana decided to use the same techniques to bring trauma relief services to veterans. She created MSRP and the program has since expanded to 27 different clinics.

Treatment in a MSRP clinic is unique for several reasons. Patients are treated in a group setting, sitting in comfortable chairs. There is an environment of calm and support. And the patients are treated using the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) protocol, a series of 5 needles placed in one ear. The program is designed to address all the needs of people with PTSD.

The MSRP clinics have been very successful. Patients report stress reduction, improved mental clarity, improved energy, enhanced performance, better sleep, fewer bad dreams and headaches, less anxiety and depression, reduced anger and pain, improved general health and better relationships.

Of course, if your loved one doesn’t have a MSRP clinic nearby, or if he or she prefers a private environment, you can contact me for an appointment or a referral to local acupuncturist.

What Can You Do to Help Veterans with PTSD?

If you know someone with PTSD, reach out to them and offer support. And if you want to help even more, donate money or volunteer at community services for veterans.   Many programs offer free services for veterans and they can always use assistance. Some places to start:

Thank you to the soldiers and veterans who have served our country so bravely.

Further Research Closing in on How Acupuncture

It is a widely held belief that acupuncture is a great way to relieve stress. Several studies have seen groups diagnosed with chronic stress display remarkable improvement in quality of life and lower stress levels due to acupuncture. Despite this evidence it has remained largely unclear why or how acupuncture is able to reduce stress levels. A recent study however has come closer to pin pointing how acupuncture can specifically target and reduce stress. The researchers found that electro-acupuncture interacted with hormones in the brain to reduce their stress elevating effects. These results are promising as researchers find more and more evidence to show that acupuncture is a scientifically viable way to relieve stress and other ailments.

Links to the Articles: – www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23386059

Acupuncture May Help Relieve Symptoms after Chemo

There has been a wealth of research done, and still being done, on the effects of acupuncture on cancer patients undergoing chemo. Recent studies have confirmed statistically significant decreases in fatigue in breast cancer patients (Reuters). These studies are still just coming out and most physicians are wary of saying that acupuncture will be guaranteed to relieve fatigue due to chemo but more physicians are consistently telling their patients to give it a try. In another study several women going through chemo were given acupuncture to help with their nausea and vomiting and 24 of the 26 women given acupuncture reported much less nausea and an overall better and more health feeling (Sciencedirect). These results are still not conclusive but with more research being done regularly into the positive effects of acupuncture for cancer patients it’s definitely worth talking with your doctor about.

Links to the Articles: – www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/29/us-acupuncture-cancer-idUSBRE89S15420121029

– www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566070206002219

Acupuncture Helps to Repair Brain Damage

There have been several reports before of research and theories about the usefulness of acupuncture in treating addiction but few have yielded concrete proof, that is until now. A recent study found that acupuncture at the Zusanli point significantly decreased the activation of heroin cues in the brain. Heroin cues are responsible for inducing sensations linked to reward and craving in the mind and the acupuncture used in this study quickly suppressed these sensations.

Drug addiction and abuse is a serious problem for a lot of people and overcoming that addiction sometimes seems insurmountable but this research proves that acupuncture can be an essential part of rehabilitation.

Links to the Articles:– www.nrronline.org/article.asp?issn=1673-5374;year=2012;volume=7;issue=33;spage=2607;epage=2616;aulast=Cai;type=0

Acupuncture for Neck Pain: Does It Work?

Chronic neck pain is one of the most common pain issues faced by students and office workers. Oftentimes, spending hours at a desk each day, combined with poor postural habits, is the root cause of the pain. However, for some, sports injuries, whiplash, and the wrong bed mattress or pillow can set off the pain. Regardless of what caused the neck pain to begin, many people find relief with acupuncture when seemingly nothing else helped. Scientific researchers and clinicians have been conducting clinical trials on the use of acupuncture for neck pain since the 1980’s, and most of these studies have confirmed that acupuncture is safe and effective.

 

One recent pilot study (published October 30, 2013 in the British Medical Journal) conducted at the Kyunghee University Medical Center in Seoul, Korea found that acupuncture three times per week was as effective as 80 mg of NSAIDs taken daily for chronic neck pain.

 

A meta-analysis of studies including 17,922 patients, published in Complementary & Alternative Medicine, found acupuncture to be effective for the treatment of back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic headaches. Patients receiving acupuncture had remarkably better results than patients receiving “sham” acupuncture. Those patients who had the worst baseline mental status and worst baseline pain scores also experienced the most benefit from acupuncture.

 

A rather intriguing study published in the Australian Journal of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine tested the effectiveness of acupressure on distal acupoints on the hands for the treatment of chronic neck pain in the gallbladder and bladder meridians. There were a total of 60 patients in the study (30 in the treatment group and 30 controls who received acupressure on sham points), and those in the treatment group experienced dramatic pain relief over the 3-week treatment period. The control group did not report significant improvement.

 

One large study conducted in Germany and published in the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain found that patients with chronic neck pain lasting more than six months experienced considerable long-term relief with acupuncture, in comparison to a control group receiving conventional medical care and no acupuncture. A total of 14, 161 patients participated in the study, and there were 10, 395 patients who chose to receive acupuncture treatment (non-randomized). In addition, 1880 patients were randomized to receive acupuncture, and 1886 were randomized to the control group. The acupuncture groups were treated up to fifteen times in three months with acupuncture; the control group received conventional medical care. The non-randomized acupuncture group experienced more severe pain at the beginning of the study. Both acupuncture groups reported greater pain relief than the control group six months after the initiation of the study.

 

While the numerous scientific studies on the efficacy and safety of acupuncture have varied in methodology and number of patients recruited – and none of the studies have been flawless in design – the findings consistently support the use of acupuncture for longterm relief from chronic neck pain. Since acupuncture is a cost-effective treatment modality that is relatively free of side effects, it would be prudent for medical professionals to recommend acupuncture to patients with neck pain before prescribing potentially addictive pharmaceutical drugs and risky surgical procedures.

 

Sources:

  1. http://aim.bmj.com/content/early/2013/10/30/acupmed-2013-010410.short
  2.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3373337/
  1. http://www.ajacm.com.au/Portals/0/AJACMFiles/PDFs/Vol%207%20Iss%201/AJACM%202012%207%201%20Treatment%20Neck%20Pain.pdf
  2. http://www.painjournalonline.com/article/S0304-3959%2806%2900264-8/abstract
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