We've been discussing various forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or "CAM" for short, which seem to have potential therapeutic usefulnessness for treating PTSD. Here's a mention in a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune of March 14, 2008, of other Eastern methods, including the energetic medicine, "Qi Gong," which appear to have brought some relief to one Vietnam war-era nurse. From an article by Matthew D. LaPlante:
Mary Jane Shipley is a 62-year-old former trauma nurse who was stationed at a mobile Army hospital in Vung Tau, Vietnam.
Shipley's "eyes well with tears," LaPlante writes, at the recollection of the young men she watched die there, burnt and broken and missing pieces of their bodies as they faded away."
He continues, "Shipley says she knew almost immediately after returning home there was something wrong with her. In part, it was the helicopters. She could hear them, even smell them, ferrying patients to the Salt Lake City hospital where she worked - sometimes minutes before any of her associates could."
Her other symptoms are hallmarks of PTSD: "She had trouble relating to other people. She was restless. She was constantly afraid. Perhaps to the eyes of today's doctors and nurses, Shipley's illness would have been obvious. But back then, no one reached out."
In Shipley's case, according to LaPlante, "It took her 30 years to realize she wasn't alone. Now in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the Western-trained nurse has found Eastern therapies to be most helpful. She practices yoga and qigong. And at least twice a week, she undergoes acupuncture. "It took me so long to figure out what works for me," Shipley laments, "and I still have so much trouble."
