Morgan Pritchard- American Camino Chapter 7 Reflection

 Chapter 7 of American Camino discusses veterans and how walking the AT can be beneficial to them. It discusses the trauma from the job, PTSD, and the difficult transition back into normal society as a veteran. While I do not have any personal experience with the armed forces, I have a friend whose dad recently retired from the military. He worked in military security and, during the workday, had no access to the internet, phones, watches, or outside sources. She says that he has recently been trying to connect with nature on his days off because of his lonely and stressful job. She says that taking even 10 minutes to step outside and listen to birds, breathe fresh air, and walk on the grass helps him. I also read about how forest bathing is a helpful treatment for PTSD in veterans when writing our annotated bibliographies. It was a very interesting study and shows how much nature can help people. I think this chapter is very interesting because a lot of people don’t recognize or appreciate how beneficial nature is as a resource. It can help mental and physical health and it can be a great resource for veterans.

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