Meditation as part of combat preparedness

A recent study revealed that suicide rates among U.S. Army personnel increased by 80 percent between 2004 and 2008. Would meditation training prior to deployment make a difference? Veterans Today explores.

After tours of duty, a number of soldiers end up with post-traumatic stress, anxiety and substance abuse disorders. 

An article posted recently on Veterans Today explores whether anything that can be done prior to deployment to help “vaccinate” soldiers from the damaging effects of extreme or prolonged stress of combat. According to the Mind-Fitness Training Institute (MFTI), the obvious answer is mindfulness meditation.

MFTI founder, Elizabeth Stanley, "has conducted studies with military personnel that show regular practice of mindfulness meditation corresponded with decreases in perceived stress and the development of fewer functional impairments in high stress contexts."

To read the Veterans Today article—A New Component of US Military Combat Preparedness: Meditation—click here.

For more about mindfulness and the military here on Mindful.org, click here.

05/16/12

Photo © Flickr.com/U.S. Army