The Transcendental Meditation Technique as a Proposed
Treatment for Vietnam Veterans Suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
By Ronald Khare, M.S., M.A.
for Advanced Military Science
United States Marine Corps Veteran and Vietnam War
Education Masters Thesis
Maharishi International University
In 1980, The American Psychological Association Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, listed for the first time the
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
recognizes that an individual exposed to a "stressor", defined
as an event "outside" the normal range of human experience ...
that would evoke symptoms of distress in most people," can lead to
a syndrome characterized by the re-experiencing of the original event,
reduced involvement with the external world and a variety of dysphoric,
autonomic and cognitive symptoms.
The range of stressors recognized as most frequently producing PTSD; the
"deliberate man-made" disasters of torture, rape and combat,
etc., also cause a more severe and longer lasting disorder than that caused
by other stressors.
The battleground has long generated what are known as "psychological
casualties." It is shown in a brief historical review on this subject
that these men were suffering from, essentially, what we call today Post-traumatic
The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique was introduced to the world
by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957. Over 2 million people [Editor's Note:
over 5 million have learned the TM technique since this Thesis was published]
around the world have since learned the technique. Extensive scientific
research has been carried out on the technique since 1970 and studies
Maharishi has generated a theory on human stress. He defines stress as the
resultant physical damage caused by a stressor. He explains that both
physical and mental disorders are caused by stress. He explains that the
practice of the TM technique can "normalize" both physical and
mental disorders. Studies done by medical practitioners and psychiatrists
are reviewed in this light. Maharishi states that, when this normalization
is fully accomplished, a permanent and unique state of arise in the individual.
This state Maharishi calls "Enlightenment."
It is hypothesized that the regular practice of the TM technique by Vietnam
veterans suffering for PTSD will result in reduced severity of symptoms
they suffer from. It is further hypothesized that long-term-practice (over
six months) will show improvement in mental, physical and affective aspects
of these veterans' live as compared to a matched control group.
A proposal for a study to test these hypotheses is included in the Appendix.
Three years after Ron Khare published his pioneering 1982 Masters Thesis,
Brooks and Scarano published a study on Vietnam veterans, randomly assigning
those diagnosed with PTSD to either meditation or psychotherapy (Journal
of Counseling and Development, Volume 64, Pages 212-215, 1985). [For
short summary please read the NCP
Clinical Newsletter 3(2): Spring 1993, published by the National
Center for PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs. (The link leads to an archived version of NCP Clinical Newsletter)]
The results were clear. Compared to psychotherapy, three months practice
of the Transcendental Mediation program for two short periods a day brought
significantly greater reductions in eight of nine measures, including
emotional numbness, anxiety, depression, alcohol consumption, insomnia,
family problems, unemployment and a scale for PTSD.
Dr. David Leffler published an Op-Ed in Military.com on 2 July 2007 discussing how stress-related problems like PTSD could be greatly reduced by implementing the TM program at military and Veterans Administration (VA) facilities in the United States. See also his letter published by American ContractorsInIraq.com entitled Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) discussing this scientifically-validated solution to the problem of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Promise for PTSD -- Article in Military Officer Magazine, a publication of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) covering alternative therapies for PTSD including the Transcendental Meditation technique.
Stress reduction Using the Transcendental Meditation Program: Solution to problems Arising from Combat Stress -- Abstract from a presentation by Col. Brian M. Rees and Dr. David R. Leffler at the International Sociological Association Research Committee 01 Seoul National University and Korea Military Academy International Conference on Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution in a Globalized World" given on 14 July 2008 in Seoul, Korea. The presentation described the potential of the Transcendental Meditation Program to combat stress-related problems like PTSD.
Brain researcher Kenneth G. Walton, Ph.D., and psychiatrist James L.
Fleming, M.D. published a letter entitled "Finding Ways to Heal"
in the 4 April 2005 issue of the Navy
Times. Similar letters also appeared in the Army Times
and Navy Times. These scientists at the Center
for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) said:
It's high time we acknowledge that virtually all drugs have negative side
effects and look more closely at the human potential for healing ourselves.
Research now shows that stress-reduction approaches can be effective for
treating hypertension and heart disease as well as anxiety, depression
and substance abuse. Among these approaches, meditation has emerged as
most effective for many outcomes. Within the different types of meditation,
the transcendental meditation program has been researched most and has
shown the largest effects in comparative studies [see for review, Behavioral
Medicine, Volume 28, Pages 106-123, 2002].
Other web pages of interest to military readers:
MP Photos -- As part of their military training, Brazilian warriors
learned Invincible Defense Technology. Several Brazilian state governments
used it. 26,000+ MP officers were instructed.
Scientific Research On Invincible Defense Technology -- These charts
show improvements in the discipline and health of cadets and military
police officers in Bahia, Brazil and the Military Police Academy of Piaui,
on the Royal Swedish Air Force (RSAF) -- Lt. Col. Sandahl of the National
Defense Research Institute, Karlstad, Sweden, conducted a study on Invincible
Defense Technology on individual mental health improvements for pilots
(as measured by the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT)).
Maharishi's Supreme Military Science--A
Revolutionary Change In The Character Of Military Intervention. --
This academic paper was published by India Defence Consultants
(IDC). Dr. David Leffler, Wing Commander Ravi Badhwar (Ret.), and Dr.
Kenneth Walton advocate that the Indian military deploy of a Prevention
Wing of the Military using Invincible Defence Technology. The
first section of this paper summarizes research on how the Transcendental
Meditation (TM) technique could enhance the performance of the warrior.