Improve Military-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Mindfulness
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“mindfulness may help to mitigate the relationship between maladaptive thinking and posttraumatic distress.” – Matthew Tull
Experiencing trauma is quite common. It has been estimated that 60% of men and 50% of women will experience a significant traumatic event during their lifetime. But only a fraction will develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But this still results in a frightening number of people with 7%-8% of the population developing PTSD at some point in their life. For military personnel, it’s much more likely for PTSD to develop with about 11%-20% of those who have served in a war zone developing PTSD.
PTSD involves a number of troubling symptoms including reliving the event with the same fear and horror in nightmares or with a flashback. PTSD sufferers avoid situations that remind them of the event this may include crowds, driving, movies, etc. and may avoid seeking help because it keeps them from having to think or talk about the event. They often experience negative changes in beliefs and feelings including difficulty experiencing positive or loving feelings toward other people, avoiding relationships, memory difficulties, or see the world as dangerous and no one can be trusted. Sufferers may feel hyperarousal, feeling keyed up and jittery, or always alert and on the lookout for danger. They may experience sudden anger or irritability, may have a hard time sleeping or concentrating, may be startled by a loud noise or surprise.
Obviously, these are troubling symptoms that need to be addressed. There are a number of therapies that have been developed to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Mindfulness-based therapies have been shown to be particularly effective in treating PTSD. There has accumulated a considerable amount of research. So, it is important to step back and summarize what has been learned.
In today’s Research News article “Military-related posttraumatic stress disorder and mindfulness meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8344114/ ) Sun and colleagues review summarize and perform a meta-analysis of the published randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of mindfulness practice to improve the symptoms of PTSD.
They identified 19 published randomized controlled trials with a total of 1326 participants, 15 of which employed an active control condition. They report that the published research found that mindfulness meditation practices produced a significant reduction in the symptoms of military-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This improvement was present regardless of the nature of the control condition, whether the treatment was provided individually or in a group, or the duration of the therapy. Hence, the published research studies support the conclusion that mindfulness meditation practice is a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of PTSD in military personnel.
So, improve military-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with mindfulness.
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
“research has shown mindfulness to be helpful with other anxiety problems. It has also been shown to help with symptoms of PTSD, such as avoidance and hyperarousal.” – National Center for PTSD
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Study Summary
Sun, L. N., Gu, J. W., Huang, L. J., Shang, Z. L., Zhou, Y. G., Wu, L. L., Jia, Y. P., Liu, N. Q., & Liu, W. Z. (2021). Military-related posttraumatic stress disorder and mindfulness meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Chinese journal of traumatology = Zhonghua chuang shang za zhi, 24(4), 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjtee.2021.05.003
Abstract
Purpose
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant global mental health concern, especially in the military. This study aims to estimate the efficacy of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of military-related PTSD, by synthesizing evidences from randomized controlled trials.
Methods
Five electronic databases (Pubmed, EBSCO Medline, Embase, PsychINFO and Cochrane Library) were searched for randomized controlled trials focusing on the treatment effect of mindfulness meditation on military-related PTSD. The selection of eligible studies was based on identical inclusion and exclusion criteria. Information about study characteristics, participant characteristics, intervention details, PTSD outcomes, as well as potential adverse effects was extracted from the included studies. Risk of bias of all the included studies was critically assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. R Statistical software was performed for data analysis.
Results
A total of 1902 records were initially identified and screened. After duplicates removal and title & abstract review, finally, 19 articles in English language with 1326 participants were included through strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results revealed that mindfulness meditation had a significantly larger effect on alleviating military-related PTSD symptoms compared with control conditions, such as treatment as usual, present-centered group therapy and PTSD health education (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.33; 95% CI [−0.45, −0.21]; p < 0.0001). Mindfulness interventions with different control conditions (active or non-active control, SMD = −0.33, 95% CI [−0.46, −0.19]; SMD = −0.49, 95% CI [−0.88, −0.10], respectively), formats of delivery (group-based or individual-based, SMD = −0.30, 95% CI [−0.42, −0.17], SMD = −0.49, 95% CI [−0.90, −0.08], respectively) and intervention durations (short-term or standard duration, SMD = −0.27, 95% CI [−0.46, −0.08], SMD = −0.40, 95% CI [−0.58, −0.21], respectively) were equally effective in improving military-related PTSD symptoms.
Conclusion
Findings from this meta-analysis consolidate the efficacy and feasibility of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of military-related PTSD. Further evidence with higher quality and more rigorous design is needed in the future.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8344114/