http://www.themarysue.com/video-games-as-therapy/ The idea for therapeutic gameplay seemed to begin in 2004. American military doctors and researchers conducted testing with PTSD patients using a virtual reality game, adapted from the Xbox console title Full Spectrum Warrior, called Virtual Iraq. Virtual Iraq allowed for a variety of scenarios, triggering through recreating theContinue Reading
http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/09/02/genetic-flaw-influences-ptsd-severity/91710.html A chemical change in a particular gene appears to influence brain development in such a way as to lessen the ability to deal with strong emotions or cope with stressful experiences. The new research is the first to show that the SKA2 gene plays a role in the developmentContinue Reading
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/woman-imprisoned-by-father-writes-about-childhood-trauma-b99565646z1-323322161.html Lisa’s mother finally was able to escape the home and call police. The girls were taken into protective custody and wound up in foster and group homes. Lisa ran away, only to be victimized later by her father and others who took her in, she says. To this day,Continue Reading
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=42738 Veterans whose quality of life was compromised by exposure to chemical defoliants such as Agent Orange during their service in Vietnam were especially acknowledged in a speech by Lynette Stankovich, wife of Vietnam War veteran Padre Wally Te Ua. In 2008, former prime minister Helen Clark publicly acknowledged NewContinue Reading
http://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/news/a15553/mdma-ecstasy-drug-ptsd-treatment/ So a few weeks after David’s death, she began seeing a cognitive behavioral therapist at the University of Oklahoma. He diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a condition characterized by flashbacks, feelings of hopelessness, and emotional numbing that affects 8 million U.S. adults (81 percent of themContinue Reading
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=42738 The annual commemoration was originally known as Long Tan Day. This year marks the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s deployment in a combat role in the Vietnam War. Age might have wearied the veterans a little but their voices were strong as they sang along with Vietnam War balladContinue Reading
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-trauma-brain-ptsd.html The team separated studies by type of control group: trauma-exposed (those who had experienced trauma but did not have a diagnosis of PTSD) and trauma-naïve (those who had not experienced trauma), and compared the individuals with PTSD to both groups. This yielded an insight into how the abnormalities inContinue Reading
http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/07/25/attention-control-video-game-reduces-veterans-ptsd-symptoms/87296.html New research has found a computerized attention-control training program significantly reduced combat veterans’ preoccupation with — or avoidance of — threat and attendant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. By contrast, another type of computerized training, called attention bias modification, which has proven helpful in treating anxiety disorders, did notContinue Reading
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/opinion/psychiatrys-identity-crisis.html?_r=0 More fundamentally, the fact that all feelings, thoughts and behavior require brain activity to happen does not mean that the only or best way to change — or understand — them is with medicine. We know, for instance, that not all psychiatric disorders can be adequately treated with biologicalContinue Reading
http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/07/22/brain-scans-may-tailor-treatment-for-ptsd/87188.html His latest study included 34 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, half of them with PTSD. They all got functional MRI scans, which track blood flow in the brain to show which areas are using the most oxygen, a sign of increased activity. The researchers saw that among the PTSD group,Continue Reading
