Alternative Methods of Treatment other than Presсrіption Medications to Improve the Mental Health of Veterans with PTSD

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Alternative Methods of Treatment other than Prescription Medications to Improve the Mental Health of Veterans with PTSD:

A Feasibility Study

Brandon Kilbride

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

COM 221: Technical Report Writing

Prof. Leslie Salas

October 29, 2020

 

 

 

 

Alternative Methods of Treatment other than Prescription Medications to Improve the Mental Health of Veterans with PTSD:

A Feasibility Study

 Post-traumatic stress disorder has been pushed to the public health forefront raising a significant concern, mainly due to more than a decade of the Middle East War. In recent years, the number of war veterans searching for assistance for PSTD has increased, creating a significant concern on the deliberating condition.

The situation raises critical questions regarding appropriate options of treatment and the types of barriers that exist in care. The U.S Department dealing with the Veterans Affairs (2015), explains that PTSD effects extend beyond the military and affects approximately seven million people in a year with the problem being acute among the veterans. The problem extends since recent veterans are faced with a higher risk of PTSD as compared to the public, and there are barriers towards treatment access. The latter is a result of specific requirements, such as having a general or honorable discharge to be allowed to access medical benefits for Veteran Affairs (VA). Another factor is long lists for waiting at the medical centers and stigma from the society that is associated with mental illness common within military communities. A study done by Tanielian & Jaycox (2008), shows that less than half of the veterans returning require mental health treatment and fail to receive such services at all. The research also shows that the veterans receiving treatment of not only PTSD but also major depression, less than a third receive proper healthcare that is based on evidence. There is an opportunity in the identification of war veterans that require PTSD treatment and matching the health requirement they need to combat the problem.

Statement of the Problem

           The high rates of psychiatric comorbidity are usually associated with complicating the processes and activities in not only diagnosis but also an assessment of military veterans with PTSD. Among the veterans, depression is the common PTSD comorbidity with research showing that it is five times likely to affect veterans with PTSD (Tanielian & Jaycox 2008). Other comorbidities include substance dependence or abuse and dependence such as alcohol and drug use disorders which require alternative treatment methods other than usual medication. Furthermore, the fact that PTSD effects extend beyond the military and affects large populations of people due to barriers in treatment access establishes the need for other methods of treatment other than regular treatment also to cure the community that is affected other than the war veterans. The problem of the stigma associated with mental illness common within military societies also provides the need for alternative medicine methods.

Purpose

           The study aims at alternative treatment methods other than medication that can be incorporated to improve the mental health of PTSD veterans. Takes the form of descriptive research design, identifying the need for not only appropriate treatment methods but also alternatives that will help in improving the mental health of PTSD veterans. Additionally, the research explains the factors that contribute to the need for alternative treatment methods. They include the effects extending to affect millions of people other than the war veterans, the existence of barriers to access of proper treatment and stigma from the society that is associated with mental illness common within military communities. The study adopts various previous research studies on the same issue to establish the root cause of the problem and what another researcher found out

on the subject. The research aims at providing alternative treatment methods to the war veterans and advice health service centers and different stakeholders involved in coming up with the alternative treatment methods. When the research covers all these sections, it will establish a good if not a long-lasting solution to the problem of PTSD amongst war veterans.

Scope

               The study focuses on war veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan war that require assistance for PTSD, in this case, data is to be collected from previous related research studies on the same issue within a period not exceeding twenty years. The task is to target war veterans, medical staff and any associated individuals that might provide any vital information related to the research. The latter is to ensure that all the areas are covered and come up with a lasting solution to alternative treatment methods other than medication that can be incorporated to improve the mental health of PTSD war veterans.

Specific Objectives

i. To investigate if relaxation can be an alternative method that can be incorporated to improve the mental health of PTSD veterans.

           A relaxation is a form of therapy that assists in the reduction of stress and muscle tension. Also, it controls pain and reduces blood pressure. Relaxation may be a form of relaxing and tensing muscles in the whole body. The procedure requires guided imagery that includes the person focusing their mind on positive things only. Relaxation plays a role in assisting in the management of the associated arousal with PTSD. However, relaxation alone is not sufficient in the reduction of other symptomatology among war veterans with PTSD (Friedman et al., 2001).

ii. To find out if meditation can be an alternative method that can be incorporated to improve the mental health of PTSD veterans.

           Regular transcendental meditation and mantra with war veterans battling PTSD to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate the disorder. Additionally, the meditation types involve a person focusing intensively on a word or an object. There is feasibility in the enrollment and retaining war veterans in meditation groups with modest improvement recorded in the symptoms of PTSD and depression. However, it is not easy to attribute the gains to the meditation techniques without proper controlling of nonspecific activities during group meetings (Friedman et al., 2001).

iii. To examine if acupuncture can be an alternative method that can be incorporated to improve the mental health of PTSD veterans.

           Acupuncture a safe therapeutic and non-stigmatizing treatment effective in the reduction of symptoms associated with PTSD. When acupuncture is combined with the other treatments, it has a better outcome as compared to war veterans that only received usual health care. Acupuncture is made up of therapy where needles are pierced into subcutaneous tissue for restoring a balance within the systems of the body (Friedman et al., 2001).

References

Friedman, M. J., Norris, F. H., Smith, H., Garone, S., VT, W. R. J., & CT, W. H. (2001). Complementary and alternative treatments for PTSD. Research Quarterly, 23(2), 1050-1835.

Tanielian, T. L., Tanielian, T., & Jaycox, L. (2008). Invisible wounds of war: Psychological and cognitive injuries, their consequences, and services to assist recovery (Vol. 1). Rand Corporation.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs How standard is PTSD? August 13, 2015. Available at:  www.ptsd.va.gov/public/PTSD-overview/basics/how-common-is-ptsd.asp. Accessed October 17, 2020.