July 15th 2024
For those who have experienced trauma and suffer a subsequent mental health disorder, ongoing research is identifying psychotherapies, medications, and lifestyle changes that can help.
The Role of PTSD in Litigation
December 1st 2005Attempting litigation based on a claim of posttraumatic stress disorder can be difficult. What is the proper DSM definition of PTSD and in what ways can and can't it be used in court to properly defend a client? What should the role of the psychiatrist be in this process?
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Genetics of PTSD: A Neglected Area?
August 1st 2005Posttraumatic stress disorder is one of the most devastating psychiatric disorders. Research has shown that a combination of multiple genes can lead to conditions for PTSD. Environmental factors, as well as comorbidities, must also be considered when looking for genetic conditions of PTSD.
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Considering PTSD in the Treatment of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence
April 1st 2004The distress and functional impairment associated with PTSD may make it difficult for IPV victims to benefit from interventions to increase their safety and reduce their exposure to violence. Empirically supported PTSD treatments include pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Incorporating these treatments into interventions to improve victims' safety and reduce exposure to violence may improve their effectiveness in protecting women from IPV.
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Psychological Debriefing Does Not Prevent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
April 1st 2004Individuals exposed to horrifying, life-threatening events are at heightened risk for posttraumatic stress disorder. Given the substantial personal and societal costs of chronic PTSD, mental health care professionals have developed early intervention methods designed to mitigate acute emotional distress and prevent the emergence of posttraumatic psychopathology.
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Posttraumatic Growth: A New Perspective on Psychotraumatology
April 1st 2004There is a long tradition in psychiatry, reaching at least back to World War I, of studying the response of people who are faced with traumatic circumstances and devising ways to restore them to psychological health. The main focus of this work has been on the ways in which traumatic events are precursors to psychological and physical problems.
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Changes in the Concept of PTSD and Trauma
April 1st 2003The majority of people experience acute stress symptoms following trauma, but the development of posttraumatic stress disorder is the exception rather than the rule. Some investigators hypothesize that PTSD develops following increased nervous system response to trauma. Why only a minority of individuals experience this response, what their risk factors are and when should they be treated is the subject of ongoing research.
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Posttraumatic Spectrum Disorder: A Radical Revision
November 1st 2001The introduction of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) into psychiatric nosology has brought about a great deal of insight as well as controversy. Have complex clinical manifestations of PTSD created a need for further clarification of the disorder?
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PTSD Treatment Improves Youths'Academics
May 1st 2001A groundbreaking program at UCLA goes into inner-city schools to help students work through trauma. By learning how to deal with the trauma itself and reminders of the trauma, students are able to improve their academic and social performance.
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Developmental Traumatology: Neurobiological Development in Maltreated Children With PTSD
September 1st 1999Developmental traumatology research is the systemic investigation of the psychiatric and psychobiological impact of overwhelming and chronic interpersonal violence on the developing child.
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PTSD, the Traumatic Principle and Lawsuits
August 2nd 1999The most common psychiatric sequelae following trauma include major depressive disorder, somatoform pain disorder, adjustment disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In law, trauma that precipitates PTSD is viewed as a tort, which stems from the root word "torquere" (to twist), as does the word torture. In a sense, plaintiffs do allege torture in personal injury cases. A tort constitutes a civil or private wrong, as opposed to a criminal wrong, and rests on the general principle that every act of a person causing damage to a legally protected interest of another obliges that person, if at fault, to repair the damage (Slovenko, 1973).
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Are Women at Greater Risk for PTSD than Men?
July 1st 1998Differences between the sexes regarding the prevalence, psychopathology and natural history of psychiatric disorders have become the focus of an increasingly large number of epidemiological, biological and psychological studies. A fundamental understanding of sex differences may lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of diseases, as well as their expression and risks.
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PTSD in Survivors of Rwanda's 1994 War
April 1st 1998In May 1997, a young Rwandan girl came to a clinic in Kigali reporting nausea and the feeling of insects crawling on her face. She complained of the strong smell of feces and grew increasingly agitated and fearful, describing vivid images of people trying to kill her at that moment. For months she had vomited at the sight of avocados, and for three years she had been unable to tolerate the sight of rice.
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Memory
March 2nd 1997Trauma, by definition, is the result of exposure to an inescapably stressful event that overwhelms a person's coping mechanisms. Since it would be immoral to expose laboratory subjects to the sort of overwhelming stimuli that give rise to the dissociated sensory reexperiences characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we are uncertain to what degree the vast literature involving laboratory studies of less stressful events is relevant to understanding how people process traumatic memories.
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