Mental health of ICU staff should be immediate priority, new study shows

 Mental health of ICU staff should be immediate priority, new study shows.

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Traditional PTSD therapy doesn't trigger drug relapse

Researchers have now demonstrated that behavior therapy that exposes people to memories of their trauma doesn't cause relapses of opioid or other drug use, and that PTSD severity and emotional problems have decreased after the first therapy session.
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Coronavirus infections may lead to delirium and potentially PTSD

People taken ill by coronavirus infections may experience psychiatric problems while hospitalized and potentially after they recover, research suggests.
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PTSD Nearly Doubles the Risk of Infection

A new study finds that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are 1.8 times as likely to have any infection as those without PTSD, ranging from being 1.3 times as likely to have meningitis, to 1.7 times as likely to have influenza, to 2.7 times as likely to have viral hepatitis. Read PsychCentral Article here

Predicting post-injury depression and PTSD risk

Addressing the psychological effects of injury can improve health and reduce the negative outcomes of injury. Yet, in a national survey, only 7% of trauma centers incorporate routine screening for PTSD symptoms.  Click here to read further.

Mental Health May Benefit from Face-to-Face Social Contact – But Not Online

In-person social contact may help buffer against symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the same is not true of contact on Facebook, according to a new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Click here to read PsychCentral article

Veterans with PTSD Can Benefit from Horseback Riding Intervention

A new study shows that an 8-week therapeutic horseback riding program reduces anxiety, anger and depression in veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Read PsychCentral article here

PTSD symptoms improve when patient chooses form of treatment

A new study is the first large-scale trial of hundreds of PTSD patients, including veterans and survivors of sexual assault, to measure whether patient preference in the course of treatment impacts the effectiveness of a type of cognitive behavioral therapy and use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a type of antidepressant often prescribed for PTSD. Click here for ScienceDaily article

Therapy offered within one month to prevent PTSD, says NICE

People who have suffered trauma and are at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) should be offered therapy within one month, NICE says in new draft guidance. Click here to see NICE news piece

Transcendental Meditation Shown to Ease Veterans’ PTSD

A new study shows that veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found significant relief from their symptoms as a result of practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM). Please click here for Psych Central news article

Imaging Pinpoints Brain Circuits Changed by PTSD Therapy

Using brain imaging to track the effects of treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scientists have identified a brain circuit on which a frequently used and effective psychotherapy (prolonged exposure) acts to quell symptoms. The findings help explain why the neural circuit identified is a promising target for additional treatment development, including brain stimulation therapies.

In an accompanying paper, the authors also report that they have identified hallmarks in brain activity of people with PTSD that predict who will benefit from treatment. Both papers appear online July 18 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

PTSD may be physical and not only psychological

The part of the brain that helps control emotion may be larger in people who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after brain injury compared to those with a brain injury without PTSD, according to a new study.

PTSD in children quickly and effectively treatable within hours

Children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) can be successfully treated with only a few hours of EMDR or cognitive behavioral writing therapy (CBWT). This is the finding of a new research paper by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and GGZ Rivierduinen (Trauma Center for Children and Youth). The paper was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Risky Behaviors May Worsen PTSD Symptoms

Emerging research suggest that engaging in risky behavior — itself a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder— could in turn lead to worse PTSD symptoms.

The discovery of evidence for a link between risky behavior and PTSD has led to the inclusion of “reckless and self-destructive behavior” as a symptom of PTSD in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the handbook used to diagnose psychiatric conditions.

Reckless behavior fuels ongoing stress for some with PTSD

For those with posttraumatic stress disorder, risky and harmful behaviors could lead to more trauma and, in turn, worse PSTD symptoms over time, research concludes.

Joanna D. Lusk, Naomi Sadeh, Erika J. Wolf, Mark W. Miller.Reckless Self-Destructive Behavior and PTSD in Veterans: The Mediating Role of New Adverse Events.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/jts.22182

Virtual reality for psychiatric treatment?

A growing body of evidence suggests that virtual reality (VR) technology can be an effective part of treatment for phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other mental health conditions, according to a research review.

Antibiotic May Improve Care for PTSD

New research suggests the common antibiotic doxycycline can disrupt the formation of negative associations in the brain, mitigating or even preventing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Investigators from University College London (UCL) and the University of Zurich discovered the relationship in a pre-registered, placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized controlled trial among 76 healthy volunteers.

The study appears in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Cortisol excess hits natural DNA process and mental health hard

High concentrations of the stress hormone, Cortisol, in the body affect important DNA processes and increase the risk of long-term psychological consequences. These relationships are evident in a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy on patients with Cushing's Syndrome, but the findings also open the door for new treatment strategies for other stress-related conditions such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.

Novel underlying mechanism involved in PTSD and other anxiety disorders described

A novel mechanism has been identified for how stress-induced anxiety -- which can produce post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD -- affects circuit function in the hippocampus, the area of the brain where aversive memories are formed. These studies fill an important gap in knowledge between the molecular, circuit and behavioral effects of the brain-signaling molecule called neuropeptide Y, and could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with anxiety disorders.

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Treatment strategy provides mental health benefits to war trauma survivors

A study shows that a certain intervention called testimony therapy plus ceremony reduced symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression among Khmer Rouge torture survivors from across Cambodia.