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Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to be in abusive intimate relationships and experience psychological problems such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A University of Missouri researcher has found that certain protective factors foster resilience and increase the likelihood that the cycle of violence will end for women who, as children, were exposed to their mothers’ battering.
The HeartMath research center has been studying the mental and physical affects of stressful emotions for close to 20 years. Today it is launching a free training DVD available through its website giving scientifically-validated techniques to help military personnel manage the unique stressors that come from service.
New research has shown that children’s risk for learning and behavior problems and obesity rises in correlation to their level of trauma exposure, says the psychiatrist at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital who oversaw the study. The findings could encourage physicians to consider diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rather than attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which has similar symptoms to PTSD but very different treatment.
A recently published paper highlights that while the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more common in those with migraine than those without migraine irrespective of sex, the risk is greater in male migraineurs than female migraineurs. Study details are now available in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Headache Society.
A new study from the Journal of Traumatic Stress finds that for active-duty male soldiers in the U.S. Army who are happily married, communicating frequently with one’s spouse through letters and emails during deployment may protect against the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after returning home.
Veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars showed a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after just eight weeks of practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique, according to a pilot study published in the June 2011 issue of Military Medicine.
For those soldiers worried about the stigma associated with seeing a therapist, virtual reality applications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be the alternative to the traditional “talk therapy.” A new paper by Albert Rizzo from the University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies, Los Angeles, and his team, reviews how virtual reality applications are being designed and implemented across various points in the military deployment cycle, to prevent, identify and treat combat-related PTSD.
According to data released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), children and youth affected by traumatic events improve their functioning in community-based “system of care” programs. Traumatic events can include witnessing or experiencing physical or sexual abuse; violence in families and communities; natural disasters; wartime events and terrorism; accidental or violent death of a loved one; and a life-threatening injury or illness. Check the end of this report to download the complete findings of “Helping Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events.”
In the days immediately following Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, survivors were grateful to have lived through it. But disasters that cause such wide-scale death, destruction, and disruption to daily life also leave lingering invisible wounds. Sheila A.M. Rauch, Ph.D., clinical research psychologist with Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School, recently traveled to Japan as part of a team that conducted workshops to help health care professionals and community leaders address mental health concerns in the wake of the disaster, including preparing for future cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ecstasy – the illegal “rave” drug that produces feelings of euphoria and emotional warmth – has been in the news recently as a potential therapeutic. Clinical trials are testing Ecstasy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But headlines like one in Time magazine’s health section in February – “Ecstasy as therapy: have some of its negative effects been overblown?” – concern Ronald Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry.
