PTSD
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Mental illnesses appear common among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan
Almost one-third of returning veterans who received health care at Veterans Affairs facilities between 2001 and 2005 were given a mental health or psychosocial diagnosis, according to a report in the March 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Stress may ‘damage child brains’
US scientists discovered a brain structure involved with memory and emotion had shrunk in children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A withered hippocampus may make a child less able to deal with stress and raise anxiety, Pediatrics journal reports. The children in the study also had higher blood levels of a stress hormone called cortisol, which has been shown to kill hippocampal cells in animals. This could set up a vicious cycle, where high cortisol causes more hippocampal damage, which in turn raises the anxiety.
Brain • Children • Memory • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Study: Thousands of children still having major problems after Katrina
Up to 35,000 children—one-third of those across the Gulf Coast still displaced by Hurricane Katrina—are having major problems with mental health, behavior or school, a new study indicates. To make things worse, many of their parents are depressed as well, leaving them less able to help the children, said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness and president of the Children’s Health Fund, which conducted the study together.
Children • Depression • Parenting • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Terror stress effect ‘widespread’
Terrorist attacks have widespread effects on people’s mental health even when they are not directly involved or are far away at the time, experts say. They found that after an attack in an urban area, 11 to 13% of the general population may suffer post-traumatic stress during the following six weeks. In the review, Chris Brewin, professor of clinical psychology at University College London found that 30-40% of people directly affected by terrorist action are likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and at least 20% still experience symptoms two years later.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
The Flavor Of Memories
Two crucial facts that neurologists have come to understand in the past few years about the workings of human memory--facts that have important implications for the treatment of a variety of mental disorders, from post-traumatic stress to obsessive-compulsive disorder. The first is that, despite its movie-like clarity, my memory of J.F.K.’s assassination is almost certainly wrong in some details, and maybe even some significant ones. That’s because I’m not simply calling up the original memory laid down in November 1963. I’m recalling the last time I thought about it. Each time we retrieve and re-store a memory, it can be subtly altered by all sorts of factors. What goes back into our brains is like the new version of a text document, overwriting the old. The second fact: memory and emotion are intimately linked biochemically, with hormones like adrenaline actively involved in forming the neurological patterns we call memories.
9/11 • Amygdala • Anger • Anxiety • Autonomic Nervous System • Brain • Cognition • Emotions • Hormones • Memory • Mood • Panic • Psychology • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Monday, January 15, 2007
Living with the scars of war
Thousands have come home from Iraq injured, sometimes severely. Here are the stories of three Marines’ struggle to heal.
Anger • Cognition • Depression • Pain • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Patients With PTSD Experience Less Pain Sensitivity
Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder show reduced pain sensitivity, a pattern that may be related to altered pain processing in the brain.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
PTSD may increase heart disease risk in older men
A higher level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder may increase the risk of coronary heart disease in older men. Using the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, the study authors found that for each increase in symptom level, the men had a 26 percent increased risk for non-fatal heart attack and fatal CHD combined. They had a 21 percent increased risk for all CHD outcomes combined (non-fatal heart attack, fatal CHD, and angina).
Article
New York Times article
Cardiovascular Health • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Multiple deployments increase stress, study says
Soldiers who have deployed to Iraq more than once reported higher levels of acute stress symptoms than soldiers serving their first tours, according to an Army report released Tuesday. Those with multiple deployments also suffered slightly higher levels of anxiety or depression than their first-tour counterparts, but the findings also showed that it is now easier for soldiers to get help in theater and the stigma of seeking counseling is decreasing.
Burnout • Military • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
NYU study shows those closer to World Trade Center have more vivid memories when recalling 9/11
Those close to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 have, on average, more vivid memories of the terrorist attacks than do those who were in other parts of New York City on that day, according to a study by researchers at New York University. The results, reported in the most recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate personal involvement may be important in engaging the amygdala when recalling 9/11 events. The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped brain structure known to mediate emotion’s influence on memory.
Amygdala • Brain • Emotions • Memory • PTSD • (0) Comments • Permalink
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Chronic fatigue syndrome linked to stressful childhood
Chronic fatigue syndrome may be linked to childhood trauma, according to two new studies. It suggests there is a strong psychological component to the mysterious disorder, which is characterised by unexplained fatigue, the researchers say.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Chronic stress affects attention by altering neuronal growth in the brain
Anxiety and depression can make a person feel as if he’s battling his own brain, complete with wounds and scars. Traumatic events — war, divorce, the death of a loved one — can trigger these disorders, and scientists are just beginning to clarify the biological connection. Now, working neuron by neuron, researchers have found that life experiences actually appear to change the length and complexity of individual brain cells. In a recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Rockefeller University scientists show that chronic daily stress affected neurons in two different areas of the rat brain, showing for the first time a link between anxiety symptoms and the dynamic anatomy of the brain.
Anxiety • Brain • Depression • PTSD • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, June 22, 2006
emWave Personal Stress Reliever: A Sleek, Compact Portable Device for Reducing Stress Anytim
emWave™ is an entertaining mobile handheld device the size of a cell phone. At only 2.2 ounces, it’s the smallest, lightest personal stress reliever on the market today. emWave users learn how to easily reduce stress—such as anger, frustration, worry, and anxiety—in real-time. HeartMath has earned a global reputation for their 15 years of innovative research on the relationship between stress and emotions. emWave represents a breakthrough in personal stress reduction technology.
ADHD • Aging • Amygdala • Anger • Anxiety • Appreciation • Autonomic Nervous System • Brain • Burnout • Cardiovascular Health • Children • Cognition • Creativity/Innovation • Depression • Education • Emotions • Happiness • Health at Work • Healthcare • Heart Rate Variability • HeartMath • Hypertension • Immune System • Intuition • Media • Mood • Nurse Retention • Obesity • Optimism • Organizational Climate • Pain • Panic • Parenting • Placebo Effect • Productivity/Performance • Psychology • PTSD • Relationships • Reproduction • Science • Stress • Technology • Teenagers • (0) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Iraq war may add stress for past vets
More than 30 years after their war ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans are seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder, and experts say one reason appears to be harrowing images of combat in Iraq. Figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs show that PTSD disability-compensation cases have nearly doubled since 2000, to an all-time high of more than 260,000. The biggest bulge has come since 2003, when war started in Iraq.
A Legacy of the Storm: Depression and Suicide
New Orleans is experiencing what appears to be a near epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, one that mental health experts say is of an intensity rarely seen in this country. It is contributing to a suicide rate that state and local officials describe as close to triple what it was before Hurricane Katrina struck and the levees broke 10 months ago.