Post Traumatic Stress Disorder News and Research

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Obama vows better health care, other initiatives, for vets, military

Addressing the American Legion's national convention, the president announced steps to expand access to mental health care and an initiative to lower home loan costs for military families. He also promised a new "culture of accountability' at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

28 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 27, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about Kevin Counihan, the person who take on the challenge of running healthcare.gov.

27 Aug 2014

Findings encourage investigation on fear, safety and sleep in human PTSD

The effectiveness of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment may hinge significantly upon sleep quality, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

27 Aug 2014

Study sheds new light on sleep drunkenness disorder

A study is shining new light on a sleep disorder called "sleep drunkenness". The disorder may be as prevalent as affecting one in every seven people. The research is published in the August 26, 2014, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

26 Aug 2014

Amygdala stimulates stress responses in adults, say researchers

In contrast to evidence that the amygdala stimulates stress responses in adults, researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University have found that the amygdala has an inhibitory effect on stress hormones during the early development of nonhuman primates.

21 Aug 2014

Survey of veterans receiving mental health services finds general satisfaction

A survey of U.S. veterans receiving mental health services from the Veterans Health Administration finds general satisfaction, but also significant room for improvement among all areas studied.

21 Aug 2014

Hartford/VA Scholars Program selects three geriatric social work researchers

The prestigious Hartford/VA Scholars Program has selected three geriatric social work researchers for a two-year award that provides career development and mentorship for projects that will improve health outcomes not only for older veterans, but for all older adults.

20 Aug 2014

Researchers examine mental health conditions of "super mom" and "super dad“

Mental health experts in the past three decades have emphasized the dangers of post-partum depression for mothers, but a University of Kansas researcher says expanding awareness of several other perinatal mental health conditions is important for all new parents, including fathers.

18 Aug 2014

Individual’s genetic make-up determines effect of stress on emotional centres

Our individual genetic make-up determines the effect that stress has on our emotional centres. These are the findings of a group of researchers from the MedUni Vienna. Not every individual reacts in the same way to life events that produce the same degree of stress.

18 Aug 2014

Reclassification of PTSD diagnosis potentially excludes soldiers diagnosed under previous criteria

A new head-to-head comparison of screening questionnaires for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, shows a worrying discordance between the previous version of the PTSD definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—fourth edition (DSM-IV) and DSM-5, released in 2013.

14 Aug 2014

Even with no explicit memory of childhood trauma, PTSD can develop in adulthood

There are many forms of memory and only some of these may be critical for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reports a new study by researchers at the University at Albany and the University of California Los Angeles.

14 Aug 2014

Memory reconsolidation may offer new treatment approaches for PTSD, drug addiction

In the novel À la recherche du temps perdu (translated into English as Remembrance of Things Past), Marcel Proust makes a compelling case that our identities and decisions are shaped in profound and ongoing ways by our memories.

13 Aug 2014

Blood expression levels of genes targeted by stress hormones could be biomarker for developing PTSD

Blood expression levels of genes targeted by the stress hormones called glucocorticoids could be a physical measure, or biomarker, of risk for developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to a study conducted in rats by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published August 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

13 Aug 2014

New VA Secretary orders independent audit of scheduling practices

Robert McDonald promised to fix problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs that kept veterans from getting care.

12 Aug 2014

Traumatic images put journalists at increased risk of adverse psychological consequences

Journalists working with images of extreme violence submitted to newsrooms by the public are at increased risk of adverse psychological consequences, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

8 Aug 2014

Molecule Notch involved in fear memory formation

Nature is thrifty. The same signals that embryonic cells use to decide whether to become nerves, skin or bone come into play again when adult animals are learning whether to become afraid.

7 Aug 2014

Experts question accuracy of fast-growing veterans' PTSD claims

The number of VA disability awards based on post traumatic stress disorder symptoms has grown fivefold over the past 13 years, and some mental health officials suggest that financial rewards may be causing some vets to exaggerate their conditions.

5 Aug 2014

Subtle changes in gene can predict how brain reacts to stress

Scientists studying depression in teens have discovered that subtle changes in a gene can predict how the brain reacts to stress, which can cause such health issues as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity.

5 Aug 2014

Epigenetic control of serotonin transporter predicts human brain function

The tiny addition of a chemical mark atop a gene that is well known for its involvement in clinical depression and posttraumatic stress disorder can affect the way a person's brain responds to threats, according to a new study by Duke University researchers.

4 Aug 2014

New electrical pattern in brains predicts how well individual animals fare in stressful situations

Some people can handle stressful situations better than others, and it's not all in their genes: Even identical twins show differences in how they respond.

30 Jul 2014