
News reports on the current state of American veterans are beyond devastating — over 10 times more veterans have been lost to suicide than to combat operations in the same time period, at a rate that’s averaging 22 suicides per day! My Virginia colleague, Richard Geiger, shares examples of treatments that go deeper and have more success than the standard drug-based, symptom-focused ones. Here’s Rich….
After the showing of “American Sniper,” the audience around me at our local theater—perhaps like at yours—remained silent. Long minutes passed before people quietly rose and shuffled out.
I think we were sharing heartbreak.
We were sharing an urgency for dominion over combat trauma called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The number of affected veterans and families is growing. And, as many dedicated care-givers work to find solutions, one fact is emerging: one method of treatment does not fit everyone….
“The need for non-drug treatment options is a significant and urgent public health imperative,” says NCCIH Director Josephine Briggs, MD. Urgent, because the need for cure is growing, and also because conventional drug treatments aren’t working over the long haul. In many cases, drug dependencies are created instead–without any real cure in sight.