Post Traumatic Stress Disorder News and Research

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Neuroscientists locate where fear is stored in the brain

Fear is a powerful emotion and neuroscientists have for the first time located the neurons responsible for fear conditioning in the mammalian brain. Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian, or associative, learning and is considered to be a model system for understanding human phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.

6 Jul 2009

Children in Afghanistan suffering from post traumatic stress

Children who live in Afghanistan are particularly affected every day by a multitude of war time stressors which increase the likelihood of developing PTSD: trauma, child labor, and family and military violence. On a daily basis they are first-hand witnesses to the bombings, abuse, and the general upheaval of their home life and society as a result of war, including the effects of long-term poverty and familial turmoil.

23 Jun 2009

Comparative effectiveness tested in diabetes study, VA records release

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine has found common surgical interventions and stents, the expensive medical devices used in bypass surgeries, are no more effective at preventing death, heart attacks and strokes in diabetic patients than less expensive drugs, the Wall Street Journal reports. The study, which included 2,368 patients, is representative of new interest in head-to-head comparisons of treatments.

9 Jun 2009

Arizona agreement aims to extend PTSD treatment to Navajo nation

The Navajo Area Indian Health Service and the Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System recently signed an agreement that aims to improve access to post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for war veterans, the Farmington Daily Times reports.

5 May 2009

Novel compound treats addiction by eliminating drug-associated memories

Addicts, even those who have been abstinent for long periods of time, are often still vulnerable to their own memories of prior drug use.

23 Apr 2009

Children who witness violence show symptoms of post-traumatic stress

They also suffer physiological effects with a disruption to their normal cortisol production pattern during the day, which may have long-term negative effects on their health.

22 Apr 2009

Discovery of key processes in the brain that control perception of emotional events

Research performed by Nicole Lauzon and Dr. Steven Laviolette of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario has found key processes in the brain that control the emotional significance of our experiences and how we form memories of them.

20 Apr 2009

Panic attacks immediately following traumatic events do not trigger or predict PTSD in the long-term

New Geisinger-lead research dispels a recent notion in psychiatry that if a person experiences a panic attack during a traumatic event that they will likely suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the future.

8 Apr 2009

Brain scan-assisted diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder a step closer to reality

Florence, Italy: Preliminary research examining the difference in brain activity between soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and those without it moves scientists a step closer to the possibility of being able one day to use brain scans to help diagnose the condition.

6 Apr 2009

Compassion fatigue: Impact on healthcare providers of caring for the terminally ill

Compassion fatigue in nurses, doctors and other front line cancer-care providers significantly impacts how they interact with patients, with patient families, with other healthcare workers, and with their own family, according to analysis by Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute researchers published in the March issue of the Journal of Health Psychology.

1 Apr 2009

Need for more African American HIV/AIDS researchers

African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, are disproportionately affected by AIDS, accounting for nearly 49 percent of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases nationwide.

1 Apr 2009

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Hennepin County Medical Center, a Minneapolis-based hospital that "offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the American medical establishment."

30 Mar 2009

New strategy to weaken traumatic memories

Imagine that you have been in combat and that you have watched your closest friend die in front of you.

17 Mar 2009

Does stress damage the brain?

In the March 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a paper by Tibor Hajszan and colleagues provides an important new chapter to this question.

16 Mar 2009

Ecstasy may help suffers of post-traumatic stres

Ecstasy may help suffers of post-traumatic stress learn to deal with their memories more effectively by encouraging a feeling of safety, according to an article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology published by SAGE.

10 Mar 2009

High levels of mental distress in Southern Sudan long after end of conflict

The first study of mental health in post-conflict Southern Sudan has found high levels of mental distress, and revealed evidence of continued exposure to traumatic events.

5 Mar 2009

Off-label drug uses wasting millions, raising health risks

A recent study in Oregon suggests that drugs designed for treating the most severe mental illnesses are often prescribed at inappropriately low doses and at considerable expense, for use in conditions where their benefit has not been established.

4 Mar 2009

Young adults with PTSD may be more likely to attempt suicide

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD - may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

2 Mar 2009

Sheer scale of bushfire devastation revealed as death toll rises

As Australians come to terms with the sheer scale of the destruction from the fires in Victoria, on an almost hourly basis the grisly search for survivors uncovers more victims.

9 Feb 2009