An Alternative Approach to Treating PTSD: Yoga

Due to the severity of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the lack of a long-term, effective cure, many with the condition seek alternative therapies to combat the debilitating symptoms.  Approximately 20% of (or 300,000) veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 have reported symptoms of PTSD, as well as other mental health problems, according to a 2008 RAND Corporation Center for Military Health Policy Research study.  Moreover, this study found that only half of these veterans seek treatment for their conditions.  With 30,000 additional troops dedicated to the war effort in Afghanistan and the recent shootings at Fort Hood fresh on people’s minds, military personnel are attempting to find alternative means to treat PTSD.

One such alternative can be found in a Massachusetts based yoga studio, where a gulf war veteran conducts classes focused on providing veterans with a peaceful environment to channel their negative emotions, as well as helping them to re-establish control in their lives.  Sue Lynch, who served in the gulf war, understands the impact that PTSD can have on veterans’ lives and sought a way to help them cope with its symptoms.  After practicing yoga herself, she decided to teach classes so that others could experience its benefits.  Veterans, who battle the effects of PTSD, found that the yoga classes helped them to feel less stressed and able to acclimate more in traditional daily activities.

The classes stemmed from a Cambridge-based non-profit known as There and Back Again, which offers alternative therapies to veterans.  Aside from the physical benefits of yoga, the veterans also find other individuals who could relate to what they were experiencing.  Yoga provides a tranquil environment, in which participants engage in various poses, focusing on being in tune with their bodies.  Additionally, class participants focus on their breathing and meditate on flushing out negative energy and emotion.  The classes are akin to cleansing the body of stress and depression, while restoring the individual’s peace and well-being.

Although this Charlestown, Massachusetts yoga program has seen noted improvements in its veteran participants, the practice has not yet gained nationwide recognition as a coping mechanism for veterans.  The instructors and developers of the program hope that will change. However, for the time being, they simply want veterans to seek the care they need for their post traumatic stress disorder.  Yoga has been shown to provide phenomenal benefits to those veterans who engage in the practice, and with more programs being created, that number is sure to increase.