The Use of Mindfulness and Acupuncture in the American Military

Abstract

This chapter examines the stresses inherent to working within the US military, the human body’s reaction to these stresses, solutions used within the US military to address the problem of stresses (both conventional resilience-building programs as well as complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches. We finish with recommendations for future leaders based on our findings. Stress is a major component of work and life. Military members are particularly affected by stress, given the potential exposure to combat environments. Traditional allopathic treatment options for service members suffering from stress have shown mostly limited benefits. More service members and Americans in general are practicing and/or participating in CIH modalities, such as meditation, yoga, and acupuncture. We identified evidence which strongly suggests that these modalities can help service members reduce acute and chronic stress, develop greater resilience, and enhance performance to meet the continuing demands of national security and defense. High-stress job participants who have benefited from these techniques include explosive ordnance disposal technicians, infantry members, and fighter pilots. Based on our findings, we recommend that (1) leaders should promote evidence-based CIH practices we have identified as first-line options for stress reduction, (2) teach these practices preventatively in military training schools, (3) deploy mindfulness-trained behavioral health providers to members’ job sites, and (4) develop business practices to offer workload credits to behavioral health providers participating in these innovative prevention practices. While CIH practices may not be useful for all service members, evidence suggests that a large population of military members can benefit from them.