One of the complaints often heard from American Veterans is that they suffer from sleep disturbances. Hundreds of thousands of vets struggle regularly with insomnia, both falling and staying asleep, as well as nightmares. The high occurrence of depression in returning veterans has also been linked to the inability to get good sleep.
A variety of treatments are available to address these problems. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia is effective for those who have a difficult time falling asleep. A high blood pressure medication has shown in numerous research studies that it can eliminate nightmares. However, if you don’t suffer from high blood pressure this medication could cause other problems.
Unfortunately, the treatment of insomnia and nightmares has historically required multiple treatments, often from multiple providers, and sometimes using highly addictive drugs with serious side effects. The treatments effective for insomnia were not necessarily effective for nightmares. And the treatments effective for nightmares were not necessarily effective for insomnia.
The Natural Approach to Helping American Veterans
One of the safest ways to deal with this American Veterans complaint is to use a natural nutritional approach – such as vitamin B1. It’s been shown to be very effective with addressing nightmares. A Calcium and Magnesium combination intake has proved extremely effective in calming the nerves and muscle tension, and helping with a healthy sleep pattern.
A New Therapy
According to Military Times, a relatively new therapy called Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescription Therapy (ERRT) has now emerged. It is a mix of education about insomnia and nightmares, techniques for learning to sleep better, intentional exposure to content of nightmares, and ‘rewriting’ and rehearsing new dreams.
While this approach is still in research and testing phases, it shows a step in the direction of assisting vets with their specific issues that they face upon returning.
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