Published: March 18, 2009
Image credit: iStockphoto
Imagine that you have been in combat and that you have watched your closest friend die in front of you. The memory of that event may stay with you, troubling you for the rest of your life. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is among the most common and disabling psychiatric casualties of combat and other extremely stressful situations. People suffering from PTSD often suffer from vivid intrusive memories of their traumas. Current medications are often ineffective in controlling these symptoms and so novel treatments are needed urgently. In the February 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a group of basic scientists shed new light on the biology of stress effects upon memory formation. In so doing, they suggest new approaches to the treatment of the distress related to traumatic memories. Their work is based on the study of a drug, RU38486, that blocks the effects of the stress hormone cortisol. [continue reading…]
Published: March 16, 2009
Claire Wilson interviews psychiatrist Simon Wessely for The New Scientist. Psychiatrist Simon Wessely explores diseases like chronic fatigue syndrome, and has suggested that some diseases can be exacerbated by our mindset.Â
How might most of us experience the effects of the mind on the body?
In an average week you probably experience numerous examples of how what’s going on around you affects your subjective health. Most people instinctively know that when bad things happen, they affect your body. You can’t sleep, you feel anxious, you’ve got butterflies in your stomach… you feel awful.
When does that turn into an illness?
Such symptoms only become a problem when people get trapped in excessively narrow explanations for illness – when they exclude any broader consideration of the many reasons why we feel the way we do. This is where the internet can do real harm. And sometimes people fall into the hands of charlatans who give them bogus explanations.
Link to continue reading
Source: New Scientist
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, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. [continue reading…]
Published: January 13, 2009
New research from Geisinger PTSD expert Dr. Joseph Boscarino sheds light on what factors may predispose someone to posttraumatic stress. In a recently published study, Dr. Boscarino concludes that low self esteem, negative life events and lack of a support network greatly increase the likelihood of PTSD [continue reading…]
