Noteboom The Law Firm

Acupressure Being Used To Treat PTSD Symptoms

March 18, 2010 - Almost anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will tell you any relief from their symptoms is welcome. Not every person suffering from PTSD will experience the same symptoms or will respond to the same treatment in the same way. Tapping is the latest technique veterans are turning to help alleviate their PTSD symptoms.

Tapping was previously known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). This therapy involves patients being shown how to tap on various acupressure points on their own faces. While the patient taps, they:

• Describe their past traumas;
• Rank the intensity of the specific memory; and
• Repeat self-affirming statements.

 The Stress project, who are running a tapping pilot program, are currently trying to sell the VA on the idea that EFT therapy should become a regular part of therapy for those veterans suffering from PTSD. The project's director claims using the tapping technique results in substantial drops in PTSD symptoms. Two studies as well as VA therapists and military psychologist familiar with EFT therapy have reinforced these findings.

Approximately 1.5 million soldiers had served in Iraq or Afghanistan as of 2007. A 2009 study estimates the PTSD rate for Iraq veterans will be 35%. The remarkable amount of returning veterans suffering from PTSD forces a sense of urgency in finding successful and manageable treatments.

So far, the VA has been less than receptive to the idea of using EFT therapy for the treatment of PTSD. Previous studies done with tapping and EFT therapy have been too small to produce the quantifiable results the VA would demand in order to start implementing this as a standard therapy. Hopefully, with the evidence from the Stress project, the VA will see the results they need to start providing this inexpensive PTSD treatment option for all veterans.