Dig therapy for injured soldiers on Salisbury Plain

BBC News ^ | Thursday, September 8, 2011 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Injured soldiers from Gloucestershire-based 1st Battalion The Rifles, who have returned from front line duties in Afghanistan, are helping with an archaeological dig on Salisbury Plain.

The project is designed to help them recover from battlefield injuries, including combat stress.

[SunkenCiv]

[at the site, media requires JavaScript to play]

[Cyber Liberty]

They’re digging up Stonehenge?

[Joe 6-pack]

I “dig” the multi-cam DPM uniforms...

[SERKIT]

I hope they find the very first Salisbury Steak. It probably tastes just the same.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Just a FYI if needed -- Stonehenge is among the sites on the Salisbury Plain. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[95B30]

As a Veteran of Operation Iragi Freedom ‘03-04 I can appreciate how, once home, this kind of activity would be healing and allow on to return to “normal” life again. I hope they can continue and expand this program. Wish we had something like this, I think it would make a huge difference in our returning Vets!

[SunkenCiv]

I think it’s mostly above ground anyway. ;’)

[patton]

I could support that. Say, a transition period for returning vets - some sort of occupational therapy, where they feel involved, and like they are making a difference.

[Cyber Liberty]

You dig up that last little bit that underground and I’ll bet you’re in for a surprise. Like that great big above-ground part will give you the smack-down.

:^)

[afraidfortherepublic]

Please explain why digging would be therapeutic vs any other activity? I’m all for archeological digs and for helping soldiers to reintegrate into the community, but why these two activities together?

PS — Thank you for your service.

[blam]

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

I’m not a therapist ... but intuitively, it seems like any low-stress, manual, repetitive activity that got you out into nature and was also beneficial to the community (so you knew it wasn’t just make-work) might be good for someone with frazzled nerves or even actual PTSD. JMO.

[Tea Party Hobbit]

If the dig is in a rural area (as the one in the article is), that would be a major part of the benefit. Just being outdoors in a green, natural area has a soothing and de-stressing effect (in pleasant weather, anyway).

[Some weeks ago (?) I even heard a news report that said doctors had just discovered that. What took them so long?]

[SunkenCiv]

Heh... at one of the megalithic sites (perhaps Stonehenge, but there are and were quite a number of small groups of standing stones around Britain and Europe), during the 20th c some work was done, including re-erecting a stone that had tipped over. Under it was found the remains of a recent (medieval or Renaissance, can’t remember the date) Englishman who had apparently been working to move the stone, probably for use in construction. The dating was based on the coins found in what was left of his pocket. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks 95B30, and thanks for the post too. :’)

[worst-case scenario]

Why don’t you contact the VA with this article and your suggestions? We have plenty of archeological digs sites here in the US. It’s a great idea.

[95B30]

OK, for some unknown reason digging in the dirt has a great calming effect. I used my old, disused garden and a forked spade to turn a 60’ X 45’ plot as a way of working myself back into “normalcy” (is that even a word?). The action of digging and the smell of the dirt was capable of removing angry feeling, anxiousness, and unwanted flashes of things past in a way no other activity could. Finding old nails, toys that my kids had played with and other finds just added a bit more fun to the whole. AN archaeological dig would require a level of concentration that would add to the other aspects. Every returning soldier has some level of need to reintegrate into society, this seems to fit well. Having had this experience I think most of our current knowledge and practice of PTSD is flawed, this kind of activity helped to bring happy memories to the fore.

[95B30]

OK, for some unknown reason digging in the dirt has a great calming effect. I used my old, disused garden and a forked spade to turn a 60’ X 45’ plot as a way of working myself back into “normalcy” (is that even a word?). The action of digging and the smell of the dirt was capable of removing angry feeling, anxiousness, and unwanted flashes of things past in a way no other activity could. Finding old nails, toys that my kids had played with and other finds just added a bit more fun to the whole. AN archaeological dig would require a level of concentration that would add to the other aspects. Every returning soldier has some level of need to reintegrate into society, this seems to fit well. Having had this experience I think most of our current knowledge and practice of PTSD is flawed, this kind of activity helped to bring happy memories to the fore.

[afraidfortherepublic]

How interesting! I knew that there had to be reason behind your remark. I was just trying to figure out the essential elements behind your statements. Is it the physical action of digging? Is it the intrigue about digging for lost artifacts? I See that it is all of it. The smell of the soil didn’t occur to me, but I can see how that would be calming. Those of us who garden find the same effects.