Guest guest Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Paula, your kids including you are going to have so much fun with this game. I have it and it took me a very long time to master it. Denny > I boughta game for my kids a while ago called the wild divine by > deepak chopra, They sent this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Wow! I am so grateful these soldiers are getting help with that. James still has dream ever so often of his time in Veit Nam. He acts the dreams out. NO sleep paralysis for him. The bed became a dangerous place to sleep. Linda , " alayafire " <ari.reza wrote: > > I was thinking of Jake and Skydancers husband just now , and this E- > mail arrived after that thought! > I boughta game for my kids a while ago called the wild divine by > deepak chopra, They sent this.... > > > > Relearning peace after war > > ECU lab uses biofeedback to help Marines manage stress disorder > > > > GREENVILLE - A year and a half after he left Iraq, Sgt. Terrell > McClain is > still fighting the sniper who shot him in the arm and the mortar > shells and > rockets that rattled his brain. His weapon: biofeedback. > > > About once a week, McClain, 24, and a handful of other Marines > travel from > Camp Lejeune's Wounded Warrior Barracks to a lab at East Carolina > University, where they are strapped with sensors that measure stress > via > perspiration, body temperature and heart and brain rhythms. They are > taught methods of controlling anxiety, such as breathing techniques > or > thinking of pleasant topics. Computer screens let them see the > effects > in simple terms such as a computer-generated roller coaster that > starts > moving when they reduce anxiety and stops when it rises again. > > > The idea is to train the wounded Marines to control outbursts of > anger and > anxiety and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and > traumatic > brain injury. > > " There's nothing abnormal about these guys, " said Carmen > Russoniello, > director of ECU's psyschophysiology and biofeedback lab. " They are > having > normal responses to the situations they were in, and we're just > training > them to have better responses. " > > McClain said he was skeptical when he started the program in March > but is > now a believer, because it has helped him control his hair-trigger > temper, a > typical PTSD symptom. > > > " I still express my emotions, but I don't act wild, " he said. " It's > helping a > lot, and I mean a whole lot. " > > > Biofeedback is only one part of Russoniello's program, which is > designed > to reduce anxiety and stress through relaxation, recreation and > social interaction. > > > Meet the civilians > > Therapists also are using activities such as kayaking, Frisbee golf > and wheelchair > basketball, and more traditional forms of therapy, such as group > counseling. > Even getting off the base and interacting with college students is > part of the > therapy, since many of the wounded Marines will soon be moving back > into > the civilian world, Russoniello said. > > > " We do serious training, but life isn't just serious, " Russoniello > said. " It's also > about having fun, and it's about things like checking out who you > are in > relationship to others. Whatever we do, it has to make sense as far > as > real life. " > > > Russoniello served with the Marines in Vietnam and said for years > afterward > he struggled to cope with the things he had seen and done. He wanted > the > nation's latest generation of combat veterans to have it better. > > > Many will need help: This spring, the Pentagon released data showing > that > more than 40,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had been > diagnosed with PTSD, and military leaders say that more have gone > undiagnosed. Thousands more have traumatic brain injuries, typically > from the blast of the improvised bombs used so often by insurgents > in Iraq. > > > Russoniello's lab is working with the Marines assigned to Camp > Lejeune's > Wounded Warrior Barracks while they recover. Many in the barracks > have > PTSD, brain injuries or both. They also often have physical > problems, and > the recreational therapy in the ECU program helps them improve > things > such as balance and coordination. > > > The program started in February. It's operating on a shoestring, > Russoniello > said, but last month it opened an office next to the barracks. That > will make > it easier for Marines to get therapy more than once a week. > > > The program is weeks from adding a new therapy even closer to the > cutting > edge than biofeedback: Marines will be immersed in a highly > detailed " Virtual > Iraq " where they will assume a digital form and encounter the very > things > that caused their problems -- bombs, ambushes, snipers. > > > The idea, which has been under limited use in several places around > the > country in the past couple of years, is to desensitize those who > have > experienced trauma and give them more control over their memories of > combat. Therapists will control the number and type of " surprises, " > stopping > the sessions periodically when the Marines' stress levels spike, to > work with > them on controlling their responses. > > > Boosting the chaos > > The wounded Marines will use the techniques learned from the simpler > biofeedback equipment to control their stress levels. From session > to session, > therapists will gradually boost the level of chaos, allowing the > Marines to come > to terms with tougher and tougher experiences. > > > The " Virtual Iraq " program is being donated by a treatment center on > the > West Coast that is working with Marines there. The program has been > in > use elsewhere for a few years. > > > Therapies based in virtual worlds have several advantages, > Russoniello said, > including the ability of Marines who deploy again or who leave the > service > and move to a distant state to continue working with the same > therapist. > > > McClain, the sergeant who was shot by a sniper, said more wounded > troops > should try the innovative therapy and the techniques like " going to > a happy > place " in your mind. > > " To be able to calm down, that's a big thing, " he said. > > > Of course, those who aren't familiar with the Marine Corps' band-of- > brothers > camaraderie might be startled at the happy place McClain goes to in > his mind: > Iraq, 2006. With his Marine buddies. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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