Operation Warrior Wellness Press Website

War Veterans

Overcoming the Nightmare
of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

Many Armed Forces veterans find it difficult to reintegrate into society. The symptoms of military PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, anger, and depression – often leading to homelessness, violence, alcohol and substance abuse, job loss, and suicide. Research in the UK suggests:

  • 30% of veterans experience PTSD
  • Veterans aged 18 to 23 are up to three times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts
  • Around 25% of all single homeless people are veterans
  • Over 20,000 veterans are imprisoned or on probation
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Our Approach:
Operation Warrior Wellness

Veterans are often loath to acknowledge to themselves or others the inner wounds of war after they return home from combat. Healing those wounds requires an approach that directly impacts the neurophysiology underlying PTSD.

Operation Warrior Wellness offers Transcendental Meditation, a scientifically proven approach, which can be easily learned and practised in private, to help veterans overcome the nightmare of PTSD, while simultaneously promoting resilience and greater success in civilian life. Thousands of veterans have learned Transcendental Meditation, and research on meditating veterans has shown that the technique significantly reduces the psychosocial symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Transcendental Meditation is a simple, easily learned technique, practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day, sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. The technique produces a profound state of rest, while enlivening the full brain. This experience of restful alertness is at the basis of the marked reductions in symptoms of PTSD and the overall improvement in the quality of life of the veteran.

CASE STUDY: Operation Warrior Wellness Programme
The David Lynch Foundation in USA works in collaboration with government agencies and national and local veterans' outreach organisations to provide individual and group programmes to heal the wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, support the families of veterans with PTSD who are hospitalised or have lost their lives due to combat or suicide, and empower military personnel and military students with the tools to promote mental and physical resilience. See: http://www.operationwarriorwellness.org/

If you would like to support or implement the David Lynch Foundation UK programmes for armed forces veterans and their families, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Immediate Funding Needs

Support the David Lynch Foundation UK projects for War Veterans

Funding Target: £550 per person for specially trained teachers to provide an intensive 12-month programme of individualised instruction and follow-up in the Transcendental Meditation programme for 100 veterans or service personnel.

 

OVERCOMING THE TRAUMA OF COMBAT

Decreased Depression

Transcendental Meditation in the treatment of post-Vietnam adjustment. Journal of Counseling and Development, 1985: 64:212–215.

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