Navy To Sink $1M Into Research On Whether Surfing Helps Vets With PTSD
“For many of our patients, exercise is the best medicine, and exercise in the natural environment is even better,” said James LaMar, a physician at the Naval Medical Center San Diego.
The Washington Post:
Surfing As A PTSD Therapy Being Studied By Navy
In song and prose, surfing has long been celebrated as a way to soothe the mind and invigorate the body. But scientific evidence has been limited. Now the Navy has embarked on a $1 million research project to determine whether surfing has therapeutic value, especially for military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or sleep problems. Researchers say surfing offers great promise as therapy. It is a challenging exercise in an outdoor environment; people surf individually or in groups; military surfers who are reluctant to attend traditional group therapy open up about their common experiences when talking to other surfers on the beach. (Perry, 3/10)
In other news —
Miami Herald:
Miami VA Investigation Finds Discrepancies In Veteran HIV Tests — Some Were Positive
At least eight military veterans who were tested for HIV at the Miami VA Medical Center received a different result when they were screened for a second time by an outside lab — a discrepancy discovered only after an employee at the Miami facility complained to outside agencies and the White House that local managers were ignoring his concerns, according to an independent federal investigator. (Chang, 2/28)
