Is a Spiritual Solution to the Trauma of PTSD Possible?

For many members of the armed services, the battle isn’t always over when they return home. Coming back can be its own struggle. Even the special closeness they form on the battlefield does not necessarily mean a smooth transition to relationships with friends and families when they are back.

A recent seminar on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), hosted by Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri and St. Luke’s hospital, gave me insights on what we all might do to recognize the challenges they face and to help where we can.

The seminar started with a showing of the mental health filmBirdy, followed by a group discussion on the complex issues of treating veterans afflicted with PTSD. Birdy examines the pre-Vietnam lives of two inseparable teenage boys and their post-Vietnam experience. Al (Nicolas Cage) was a self-confident teen who befriended a boy nicknamed Birdy (Matthew Modine) who was a shy, withdrawn boy fascinated with birds and flight. The two friends share adventures that include girls, cars, and helping Birdy with a homemade pair of wings to fly. The post-Vietnam experience of Al and Birdy, now two wounded soldiers - one physically and the other emotionally - was predictably hard to watch.

What does the landscape look like today for returning vets and what treatments are available to help? On a national scale David Finkel notes in his New Yorker article that studies indicate there are roughly 500,000 mentally wounded Americans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Matthew Miller, senior clinical director at the St. Louis Veteran’s Affairs medical Center noted that 51,000 vets involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have returned to the St. Louis area.  Approximately 17% of them have received mental health services, including for PTSD. Miller acknowledged that while PTSD is treatable, most successfully with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), it remains a very hard journey for Vets to work through. Riddled by panic and fear, PTSD is used more frequently today to describe the mental health challenges someone might experience after a wide variety of traumatic experiences – deep loss from catastrophic natural disasters, accidents or from man-made violence such as torture, abuse or rape.

Veterans often struggle with feelings of embarrassment about having to seek help for mental wellness.  But, in her book, “5 Survivors: Personal Stories of Healing from PTSD and Traumatic Events” author Tracy Stecker shares a story of Joseph, an Army platoon leader who served in Iraq and survived while several who served under him did not. He returned home with a case of “survivor’s guilt”.  Once he got over his reluctance to ask for treatment, he signed up for two nightmare-resolution classes and noticed a positive change. Joseph says: “I thought going for treatment for PTSD would be hard, but it was actually a relief to be officially diagnosed…I’m ready to move on.”

CBT therapists are trained to deal with this particular human disorder by helping veterans take control of the thoughts that do not serve them very well. “Those in treatment are exposed to what they fear and beliefs that have served to maintain such fears are targeted for modification.” Ultimately, the individual will develop a more realistic interpretation of the trauma and learn to control the thoughts that trigger panic or anxiety.

Is it possible that Mark Twain, himself no stranger to loss and thoughts of despair, was speaking to an assembly of people struggling with PTSD when he said to, “drag your thoughts away from your troubles by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it”? Increasingly, veterans’ health services are looking for expanded solutions for patients, if possible, to not end up dependent on drugs to treat mental health issues. And, taking control of thinking is the key in approaches that range from meditation to spiritual practices.

For example, Military doctors are increasingly recommending mindfulness training for PTSD veterans. At its core, mindfulness encourages forms of meditation with the goal of increased awareness to one’s thoughts and emotions. In a study conducted by the University of Michigan on group mindfulness activities, many patients were able to see an improvement in their symptoms. Patients experienced a decrease in feelings of self-blame and had less of a perception that the world is a dangerous place. Having a decrease in negative thought patterns is significant. Yet, what would it take to reach a mindset or outlook of complete freedom, health and security? 

Jamae van Eck, Christian Science practitioner and author of "Healing:Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?: A Spiritual Answer, wrote a book in 1997 with case studies of those who experienced a total recovery from either sexual abuse or war trauma. An excellent description about what such recovery looks like comes from Mike Lew, whose statement was in the context of a total recovery from sexual abuse but applies equally to those who have overcome PTSD, “Recovery is the freedom to make choices in your life that aren’t determined by the abuse” 

Van Eck also tells the story of John Wyndham who could have easily felt frantic about his circumstances, as if the universe was swallowing him up. Imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II, he refused to harbor fearful, resentful, hateful thoughts and ultimately won his freedom. His spiritual convictions led him later to a successful career healing others through Christian Science, a Bible-based method of healing through prayer.

To transcend the downward spiral of thoughts associated with a traumatic war experience can bring hope and inspiration to others. In one passage, van Eck shares her view on what the stories told her was consistently true in the experience of her subjects: “What seems requisite to such overcoming is a self-forgetful love springing out of trust in a standard of right regulating human destiny, even the conviction of a divine purpose transcending or overriding the worst human cruelty of misfortune.” 

Conclusion

Confronted with the dramatic rise in veterans suffering from PTSD and in veteran suicides, a wide variety of solutions needs to be explored. Aggressive, negative or anxious thoughts can’t simply be “medicated” away in order to live a normal and purposeful life. Solutions that create trust in a divine purpose transcending and overriding the horrors may hold a promise for greater and more permanent freedom.

Steve Drake is a health writer focusing on the leading edge of thought, consciousness, spirituality and health. He is also a liaison to the media and to the legislature for Christian Science in Missouri.