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Eastwood and Lynch launch Operation Warrior Wellness: Researchers, veterans praise Transcendental Meditation for PTSD

David Lynch Foundation - USA    Translate This Article
13 December 2010

Watch replays of global webcasts 13 December:
Click here: http://www.livestream.com/davidlynch

∙ ''Change Begins Within'' Benefit Gala—9:00pm (US ET)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

∙ Launch of ''Operation Warrior Wellness''
Paley Center for Media, New York City, Monday morning December 13

December 13, Clint Eastwood and David Lynch, along with a panel of researchers, veterans and active duty soldiers, launched ''Operation Warrior Wellness''—a national initiative to teach 10,000 veterans and their families a simple meditation practice for preventing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The launch on Monday morning highlighted a conference on the research and applications of Transcendental Meditation for PTSD, held at the Paley Center for Media in New York. Replays of the conference webcast are available at: www.livestream.com/davidlynch. Mr. Eastwood appeared via video.

Joining Eastwood and Lynch in person were British comedian Russell Brand, a David Lynch Foundation supporter.

Hundreds of thousands of vets suffer from PTSD

An estimated 30% to 35% of the 1.64 million U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001 meet DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. Almost half of all veterans with PTSD have never sought help of any kind, and of those who do, half receive inadequate treatment. Care for all these veterans could cost society between $4.0 and $6.2 billion biannually.

Researchers presented evidence showing that Transcendental Meditation can be an effective aid for veterans suffering from combat stress and PTSD, including anxiety, depression, anger episodes, hypervigilance, insomnia, and substance abuse.

Meditating veterans from World War II, Vietnam, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan spoke movingly about how Transcendental Meditation has aided their recovery from PTSD.

Operation Warrior Wellness partnering with veterans organizations

Operation Warrior Wellness is currently working in partnership with national and local veterans groups, the Doe Fund for homeless veterans in New York City, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Hope for the Warriors, and Urban Zen.

''When I heard that 18 veterans commit suicide every day, and that more soldiers have died by committing suicide than die in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, I knew the Foundation had to do something to help,'' Mr. Lynch said.

''Operation Warrior Wellness is raising the funds to teach 10,000 veterans with PTSD and their families to meditate. But that is just the beginning. There are hundreds of thousands of suffering vets—and every one of them should be able to learn to meditate if they want to.''

''Change Begins Within'' Benefit Event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The David Lynch Foundation is hosting its second annual ''Change Begins Within'' benefit gala December 13 evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Funds raised during the gala will help fund Operation Warrior Wellness as well as the Foundation's other initiatives. The Foundation was established in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) to provide scholarships for instruction in Transcendental Meditation for at-risk individuals—inner-city youth, veterans, American Indians on reservations, homeless people, and incarcerated adults and youth. To date, the Foundation has funded 150,000 people to meditate.

Panelists who spoke at the December 13 morning conference included:

Clint Eastwood

David Lynch

Russell Brand

Donna Karan

Colonel Brian M. Rees, M.D., M.P.H., command surgeon, 63d Regional Support Command with 34 years of commissioned military service, who recently completed his fourth deployment in Afghanistan. Col. Rees serves as co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness.

Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D. senior researcher in psychiatry and psychobiology for 20 years at the National Institute of Mental Health; clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School, who conducted research on TM and Iraq veterans with PTSD.

John Hagelin, Ph.D., Harvard-trained quantum physicist who has led an international scientific investigation over the past 25 years into the applications of Transcendental Meditation for health and education; president of the David Lynch Foundation.

James Krag, M.D., recent president of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia and currently clinic psychiatrist with the Veterans Administration.

Sarina Grosswald, Ed.D., George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist and published researcher on the effects of TM on PTSD and ADHD.

Jerry Yellin, P-51 pilot in WWII who flew 19 missions over Japan, and was victimized by PTSD for 25 years before learning to meditate in 1975. Mr. Yellin is a member of the Military Writers Society of America; author of three award-winning books, and honorary board member of the Iwo Jima Association of America. Jerry serves as co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness.

Ed Schloeman, Vietnam vet

Dan Burks, Vietnam vet

Lt. Col. Brenda Marlinbanks, Iraq vet

David George, Iraq vet

###

Video

Healing the Wounds of PTSD Through Meditation

Links

DavidLynchFoundation.org

DoctorsonTM.org

DLF.TV — David Lynch Foundation Television

Contact:

Ken Chawkin
kchawkin@mum.edu
+1 641-470-1314

Bob Roth
rroth@tm.org
+1 202-251-7014
David Lynch Foundation

To view a bibliography of research on Transcendental Meditation, stress and stress-related disorders, click here.

Global Good News comment:

Global Good News will feature reports by members of the distinguished panel who addressed the December 13 morning conference launching Operation Warrior Wellness.

For the good news about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.



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