People Dealing With Trauma Have Harder Time with Grief and Loss
Razi Berry Among individuals who survive a trauma that resulted in the loss of a close friend or loved one, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can predict complicated grief — a sense of persistent sadness and an inability to cope — years after the trauma, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “Grief […]
Linking PTSD to Fears Surrounding Pandemic
Razi Berry Even at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, people around the world became more fearful of what could happen to them or their family. A new Flinders University study of 1040 online participants from five western countries published in PLOS ONE explores people’s response to the stresses of the escalating pandemic, […]
MRI May Be Able to Confirm PTSD Following Traumatic Event
Razi Berry Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex psychiatric disorder brought on by physical and/or psychological trauma. How its symptoms, including anxiety, depression and cognitive disturbances arise remains incompletely understood and unpredictable. Treatments and outcomes could potentially be improved if doctors could better predict who would develop PTSD. Now, researchers using magnetic resonance imaging […]
It’s Hard to Find a Therapist Skilled in PTSD
Razi Berry Lauren Walls has lived with panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks for years. The 26-year-old San Antonio teacher sought help from a variety of mental health professionals — including spending five years and at least $20,000 with one therapist who used a Christian-faith-based approach, viewing her condition as part of a spiritual weakness that […]
New Studies on MDMA Show Possibility for Improving PTSD
Razi Berry Recent research into MDMA (ecstasy) has shown that the drug can induce a neural response that allows the brain to become more sensitive to the reward and value learning process of social behaviors. This “critical period” of learning is typically seen in adolescence when people and animals are most sensitive to the social […]