A Miami University professor has recently been awarded a grant to study the impacts of Tibetan meditation practices on sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Deborah Akers, a professor in the department of anthropology, was awarded $98,366 on March 13 by the Ohio Department of Mental Health to fund the research project, titled "Treatment of Trauma Survivors: Effects of Meditation Practice on Clients' Mental Health Outcomes." The project will take place now through June 2009.
Akers' project is part of a Miami summer field program conducted by the department of anthropology, in which Miami students study . . . in Dharamsala, a city in northern India.
Full link here.
As a Vietnam Vet with PTSD, I don't think the words of Budda will help. Having said that, I also understand that nothing else seems to work either. If you can find willing subjects there is no harm in giving it a try.
A bigger problem is the VA itself. I've had an abcess tooth and accompaning tooth ache for over a month without them even offering pain medication will they try to decide who to send me to in order to treat it. That is the kind of thing a PTSD vet faces once he is in the system. That could and should be fixed
Posted by: Alton Sullivent | March 12, 2008 at 01:58 AM
I've suspected previously that meditation could relieve PTSD. Guided meditations to begin with. After all: no ego / no ego malady...
Posted by: Rev. Morris | April 08, 2008 at 12:20 AM
hello what i join your school(new foriegn student to admit servise). what is your school email and fax. if you have a chance give me fax and email. i want sudy your school.
dear Naranbaatar
Posted by: naranbaatar bayarsaikhan | August 14, 2008 at 01:13 AM
suffred from complex ptsd for over forty years and now helping it with mindfulness meditation. Important its mindfulness, i.e. meditation that emphasises stayin g in the here and now
Posted by: Estelle | May 03, 2009 at 05:36 PM
And considering quite a number of Tibetan refugees have some semblence of PTSD both in the older generation (who escaped the Chinese invasion and also those who have subsequently made the journey) and the residual effects showing in the younger generation this is probably not a bad idea for a study. It seems their meditation and devotional practices are of some benefit in a foreign country with virtually no mental health services (meaning India, where I live)
Posted by: NellaLou | June 05, 2009 at 04:40 AM