HEALING VETERANS WITH PTSD

Healing veterans with PTSD with therapeutic hand drumming

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Drum1

Psychological trauma2

Using hand drums to work with veterans who suffer from PTSD2

Recent biofeedback studies3

Helping Speech in modern times3

Depression4

Sociability4

Anxious mood4

Self-expression5

Camaraderie5

Empowerment5

Conclusion6

Healing veterans with PTSD with therapeutic hand drumming

Introduction

Veterans suffering from PTSD have been a common issue for decades. The life threatening and shocking experiences they go through, impact their lives, and minds, having a great effect on them. Post Trauma Stress Disorder refers to a kind of a severe anxiety disorder that may develop after an individual experiences an extreme trauma that results in psychological disturbance as in the case of veterans and rescue workers. This can be as a result of an event involving the danger of death to the person, or to someone else. This danger may extend to the person's own, or someone close's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity. This can devastate the individual's capability to cope with similar or regular day to day events. “Post trauma stress disorder”, is less frequent as a direct effect of psychological shock, and more lasting than the more usually seen “acute stress response”.

The individual, re-experiencing the original trauma through a flash back type phase, nightmare, or intentionally trying to avoid similar eliciting agents are some of the diagnostic symptoms for PTSD. People may have problems sleeping, or staying a sleep, and show excessive anger or hyper vigilance. To be effectively classified as a PDST, the symptoms must persistently last for more than a month, and cause major harm in occupational, social, or other important functioning areas (Konchin, D. 2001).

Drum

Drum is a musical instrument being used for centuries for a number of purposes, from war, to healing. It is an included in the percussion group of instruments for music, and is classified technically as the membrane-o-phones. The instrument is made up of at least one membrane, known as a drumhead or drum skin, which is stretched on a shell and struck to produce the desired sound. They are the world's oldest known and most ubiquitous musical instruments, having the basic design which has virtually not changed centuries, having amazing healing properties attributed to it.

Psychological trauma

It is the physical trauma or the psychological trauma that cause PTSD, but is more often a combination of both to have an effect that is even worst. Atkinson et al. (2000) stated that PTSD has a higher probability to be caused by trauma caused by humans rather than natural disasters, be it psychological or physical. Such causes may include experiencing war, rape, a terrorist attack, or being emotionally, physically or sexually abused, or witnessing such events. People can experience PTSD symptoms which can be elicited by experiencing or witnessing events which may be perceived as life endangering or cause a person to feel helpless, and may include sexual assault, physical assault, addiction to drugs, accidents, some serious illness, working in positions exposing one to war or disasters, causing mental distress and eliciting psychological trauma.

Using hand drums to work with veterans who suffer from PTSD

Drum ...