Play, Stress Management Combat Childhood PTSD

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SAN FRANCISCO -- A behavioral medicine program of play combined with stress reduction and management techniques significantly reduced symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in a group of children whose community had been decimated by two consecutive hurricanes.

Play is a natural healing force for children, Carmen Russoniello, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. "We believed that since recreation is inherently healing, we could perhaps meld it into a structured program that would help these kids learn to cope with what had happened to their school and community."

In 1999, two consecutive hurricanes flooded eastern North …