Photo: Operation Surf
Well, it sounds like the Navy wants to put quantifiable data up against an anecdotal fact most of us are aware of: surfing makes you feel better. Specifically, America’s protectors of the high seas want to see how the sport can be used to treat military people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Washington Post dove in head first, reporting that the Navy will spend a million bucks on the research project and that researchers are apparently stoked, as surfing “offers great promise as therapy.” Especially with the group therapy aspect, where military personal reluctant to attend group sessions might do better, and open up more on the beach, by being part of a shared experience (cold-shoulders from locals notwithstanding).
“Lots of times it becomes therapy under the guise of recreation,” Helen Metzger, head of the health and wellness department at Naval Medical Center San Diego told The Post. “They talk about surfing and then it gets into things that are deeper than that, common experiences, common traumas.”
The only thing is, plenty of research has already been done on the subject. The European Centre for Environment and Human Health along with the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport conducted a similar study. And organizations like the Warrior Surf Foundation and Surf Action in the UK are already well on their way to treating vets through surf. Then there was Netflix’s 2017 documentary, Resurface, which documents Operation Surf’s mission to get vets in the water.
Still, as referenced in the article, it’s refreshing to see a military institution thinking outside the box. In addition, the three-year study will apparently pit surfing therapy against hiking therapy. When it’s finished, the study will have placed 43 participants in a Navy hiking program compared to 118 participants in surfing groups to study the result. Obviously, neither outdoor activity could possibly be bad for a traumatized soldier, but again, researchers seem to be frothing at the surf aspect and a chance to set up permanent military programming:
“We all know it’s good; we can see it,” said Capt. Eric Stedje-Larsen, a pain management specialist with the Navy who worked in the surfing program. “For some folks, there is nothing like it. But we need science to get the administrators on board.”
