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Visual art therapy's unique contribution in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders.

This paper describes visual art therapy as an integrative and unique approach, which is most appropriate for the multidimensional treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The unique contribution of visual art therapy in the treatment of PTSD is expressed in three major areas: (1) working on traumatic memories, (2) the process of symbolization-integration, and (3) containment, transference and countertransference. Two case descriptions of traumatized patients treated in visual art therapy are presented.

Art Therapy↗

The influence of astrocytes on the development, regeneration and reconstruction of the nigrostriatal dopamine system.

Over the past few decades astrocytes have emerged from being considered simple packing tissue in the brain to become major players in the development, survival and functioning of central nervous system (CNS) neurons. As the influence that astrocytes (and the various molecules they produce) have on the development of CNS neurons becomes more evident, it will be important to consider how this information can be exploited to bring about better protection, recovery and/or regeneration of circuits which are destroyed in the adult CNS due to trauma or com-mon neurodegenerative episodes. Although the characterisation of astrocytic responses to brain injuries, neurodegenerative disease, and cell transplantation are becoming more common, we still known little about how astrocytes influence the (re)growth or reconstruction of neural circuitry after the development period is ended, or indeed what is the overall impact of an astrocytic presence on the growth of neurons in the adult CNS. With the major hurdle of recognition of the importance astrocytes in the function and recovery of the adult CNS now cleared, a new chapter in the development of powerful new treatments for CNS disorders and injuries is now open. The following is a brief review of what we know about how astrocytes influence the growth and connectivity of the nigrostriatal circuit during development, and how these cells may affect efforts to reform this circuit after it s destruction/degeneration in the adult CNS (as commonly happens in Parkinson s disease). As we obtain more information on the specific influence of these cells in various developmental, traumatic and disease events we can expect to find better ways toward combating major disorders of the human CNS.

Animals↗

Problem gambling in Australian PTSD treatment-seeking veterans.

This study explored gambling among Australian veterans entering posttraumatic stress treatment programs (n = 153). Twenty-eight percent reached the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) criteria for probable problem gambling, as did 17% on the DSM-IV gambling scale (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Almost all problem gamblers reported gambling to escape problems in other areas of their lives. The strongest independent predictor of problem gambling was gambling weekly or more often on electronic gaming machines. There was no significant relationship between problem gambling, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, or alcohol use. The study identified an entrenched gambling culture among PTSD treatment-seeking veterans, finding these veterans indulge in many different forms of gambling and that these forms are mediated by situational factors that provide both casual and formal gambling opportunities.

Australia↗

The hardship of obesity: a soft-wired hypothalamus.

Food intake and energy expenditure are determinants of metabolic phenotype and are regulated by the CNS. Although humans have a well-balanced homeostatic feedback loop, obesity and metabolic disorders are spreading rapidly and carry a heavy toll of morbidity and mortality. The past decade has witnessed major advances in the understanding of basic metabolic processes, the brain circuitry that determines appropriate and, but, inappropriate behavioral and humoral responses to changing metabolic cues remains largely ill defined. This review summarizes current knowledge of the brain anatomy that supports food intake and energy expenditure and discusses cellular mechanisms such as synaptic plasticity that may provide clues toward the development of successful central therapies to combat metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes.

Animals↗

A review of psychological debriefing after extreme stress.

Preventive intervention after exposure to traumatic events is a subject of increasing interest among mental health professionals. Psychological debriefing, which aims to reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychopathological sequelae of traumatic experiences, is an example of such an intervention. The authors review the history of psychological debriefing and examine its efficacy. They conclude that psychological debriefing might be an effective intervention after extreme stress, although more support from controlled studies is required.

Accidents, Traffic↗

War-related psychological stressors and risk of psychological disorders in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

BACKGROUND: Questions remain about the long-term health impacts of the 1991 Gulf War on its veterans. AIMS: To measure psychological disorders in Australian Gulf War veterans and a military comparison group and to explore any association with exposure to Gulf War-related psychological stressors. METHOD: Prevalences of DSM-IV psychological disorders were measured using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Gulf War-related psychological stressors were measured using a service experience questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 31% of male Gulf War veterans and 21% of the comparison group met criteria for a DSM-IV disorder first present in the post-Gulf War period. The veterans were at greater risk of developing post-Gulf War anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, affective disorders and substance use disorders. The prevalence of such disorders remained elevated a decade after deployment. The findings can be explained partly as a 'war-deployment effect'. There was a strong dose-response relationship between psychological disorders and number of reported Gulf War-related psychological stressors. CONCLUSIONS: Service in the 1991 Gulf War is associated with increased risk of psychological disorders and these are related to stressful experiences.

Adult↗

[Physical and psychological traumatism. Dialectic of singular tragedy and biology].

A good clinical assessment and a strict hospital's organization characterized essentially by the best climate of cooperation between the different departments permits now to control and to prevent some surgical sequelae. For a long time (approximately the 50's) generalists physicians, psychiatrists, behaviourists, have been limited in diagnosis and treatment afterwards. They could not take preventive measures, because the lack or insufficient acknowledge about this area. In fact, every surgical intervention implies psychic and existential, acute or long term disorders. A briefly summarized clinical case illustrate principles for the practice. The preventive approach of the post-surgical psychic troubles concern a lot of elements related to the patient's environement: social interactions, technic cares, types of drugs, style of relation between the specialized teams and patient, social and professional support and so on... The events, even the apparently minor, have to be enough mastered into the resuscitation's setting. The most important trouble is the "post-traumatic stress disorder" (cf D.S.M. III R), or (in the european traduction) a "névrose traumatique". It is a stress or illness of the whole existence, especially in the case of delayed subtype. The authors emphasize the notion of "second traumatism", often withdrived from social, familial and medical supports.

Adult↗

Agent Orange exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Evidence of organic psychological deficits in Vietnam veterans exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange was established through a neuropsychological battery. Also, the exposed Vietnam veterans, in contrast to a matched control group of Vietnam veterans, showed a significantly higher rate of posttraumatic stress disorder and its associated features: depression, anxiety, and increased aggression. The latter was subdivided into uncontrollable pressures, verbal violence, violence against objects, assaults, and suicidal thoughts. Active cases of chloracne, a medical indicator, were used to determine Agent Orange exposure.

2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid↗

Psychological injury in the two World Wars: changing concepts and terms in German psychiatry.

This paper describes how German psychiatrists in two World Wars treated psychologically injured soldiers, and the concepts of related illnesses which they developed. The literature is reviewed, and symptomatolgy of patients and therapeutic practice in the wars are compared. By 1916 German psychiatrists had already established a concept of illness that continued to be used until World War II and beyond, albeit with a changing terminology. The vague term 'war neurosis' was commonly used, but covered different, partly overlapping concepts. Psychiatrists considered the disorder as a psychogenetic reaction based on an individual predisposition and denied a causal link between the experience of war and subsequent psychopathology. It may be concluded that psychiatrists developed theoretical models and practical treatment methods in a manner that met the social and military requirements of the time.

Combat Disorders↗

Predictors of emotional numbing in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Little is known about the mechanisms underlying emotional numbing (EN). The functional relationship between other classes of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and EN is also not well understood. In the present study, we examined the statistical predictors of EN. We hypothesized that the severity of EN would be most strongly associated with the hyperarousal symptoms rather than the avoidance symptoms of PTSD, or comorbid depression or substance abuse. This prediction was derived from psychological and biological models that posit EN to be a product of the depletion of emotional resources subsequent to chronic hyperarousal. Using hierarchical multiple regression in two separate samples of Vietnam combat veterans, we found hyperarousal symptoms to be the most robust predictor of EN. These data suggest that there is a substantive relationship between hyperarousal symptoms and EN in PTSD.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Preventing post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from military operations.

Military personnel are at high risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), historically 10 to 50% of all casualties. The best treatment is to provide an opportunity for rest and ventilation of feelings and then to return the person to duty and to his or her peer group. Preventing the cycle of PTSD from starting and thus decreasing psychiatric casualties is feasible. This can be done by promoting unit cohesion and morale, ensuring that individuals know their jobs, inducing stress during training so individuals will be better prepared to cope, providing realistic information about what to expect in combat, and holding group debriefings immediately after any traumatic event. This paper discusses various models for preventing PTSD and examines future directions for the prevention of PTSD.

Combat Disorders↗

Lithium for irritability in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Irritability is often a problem for patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We describe two cases that illustrate the use of lithium in the treatment of veterans with PTSD who complained of serious problems with irritability or angry outbursts. These cases are discussed in the context of evidence that lithium may be useful in other patients with disorders of impulse control. The evidence linking disorders of anger and impulse control to a dysregulation in neurotransmitter regulation, particularly in serotonergic pathways, supports a psychopharmacologic approach to treatment. These findings should lead to further study of the role of lithium in the treatment of this symptom complex in patients with PTSD.

Adult↗

Elevated awakening thresholds in sleep stage 3-4 in war-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

Awakening thresholds from sleep stage 3/4 were investigated in 19 DSM-III-defined, war-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients compared with 6 normal controls. Patients had significantly higher awakening thresholds and significantly longer latencies to an arousal response than controls. These results are interpreted to suggest modifications in the depth of sleep as one of the long-term sequelae of traumatic events.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

State propaganda and mental disorders: the issue of psychiatric casualties among Japanese soldiers during the Asia-Pacific War.

This article explores the politics of Japanese wartime medical policy, demonstrating how state propaganda about the people and their armed forces influenced authoritative views on health and what might endanger it. By focusing on the obstacles faced by psychiatrists trying to promote more official concern for mental health issues, it challenges the validity of figures indicating a low incidence of psychological trauma among the country's soldiers. Civilian psychiatrists had to contend with the threat of censorship and arrest for even discussing war-induced mental disorders; at the same time, army psychiatrists as military insiders were pressured to convince their patients that their conditions were not serious and did not merit compensation. While discussing the neglected topic of Japanese psychiatric casualties, an attempt is made to provide a comparative approach by referring to the state of military psychiatry in other national settings.

Combat Disorders↗

Post-traumatic stress disorder and the law: critical review of the new frontier.

Since its debut in the psychiatric nomenclature in 1980, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has had a dramatic impact on criminal and civil jurisprudence. PTSD has created a cottage industry among both criminal and negligence attorneys and mental health practitioners. The diagnosis first achieved public notoriety when it was introduced as a new basis for the insanity defense. More recently "syndrome evidence" of the subtypes and variations of PTSD have encroached on the substantive criminal law of self-defense. In addition, the diagnosis may have an impact on such traditionally legal and factual determinations as the credibility of witnesses and may undermine conservative tort doctrine that attempts to cabin psychic injury. The emerging legal area of victims' rights has been strengthened and paradoxically divided by PTSD. Yet the newly defined disorder of PTSD has not borne such a heavy forensic burden easily. Indeed the diagnosis poses for psychiatry some of the very problems it supposedly solves for legal purposes, including the illusory objectivity of the causative traumatic event and the expert's dependence upon the victim's subjective and unverifiable reports of symptomatology for the diagnosis.

Combat Disorders↗

Delayed onset post-traumatic stress disorder in World War II veterans.

Delayed onset post-traumatic stress disorder is an underreported condition in World War II veterans. There is little agreement about the etiology of this syndrome. Two cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in World War II veterans whose individual onset was delayed for over 30 years are described. These veterans developed the symptoms associated with the stresses of late life including bereavement, social isolation and chronic medical illness. Theories regarding the etiology of this syndrome are reviewed and a hypothesis suggesting a heterogeneous condition is presented.

Aged↗

Toward a phenomenology of trance logic in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Some induction procedures result in trance logic as an essential feature of hypnosis. Trance logic is a voluntary state of acceptance of suggestions without the critical evaluation that would destroy the validity of the meaningfulness of the suggestion. Induction procedures in real and simulated conditions induce a conflict between two contradictory messages in experimental hypnosis. In military induction the conflict is much more subtle involving society's need for security and its need for ethics. Such conflicts are often construed by the subject as trance logic. Trance logic provides an opportunity for therapists using the phenomenology of "presence" to deal with the objectified concepts of "avoidance," "numbing" implicit in this kind of dysfunctional thinking in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. An individual phenomenology of induction procedures and suggestions, which trigger trance logic, may lead to a resolution of logical fallacies and recurring painful memories. It invites a reconciliation of conflicting messages implicit in phobias and avoidance traumas. Such a phenomenological analysis of trance logic may well be a novel approach to restructure the meaning of trauma.

Combat Disorders↗

The war experiences and psychosocial development of children in Lebanon.

This study examines the number and types of war traumas children face growing up in a war-torn country and the relation of such traumatic experiences to their psychosocial development. A sample of 224 Lebanese children (10-16 years old) were interviewed using measures of war exposure, mental health symptoms, adaptational outcomes, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The number and type of children's war traumas varied meaningfully in number and type by their age, gender, father's occupational status, and mother's educational level. As predicted, the number of war traumas experienced by a child was positively related to PTSD symptoms; and various types of war traumas were differentially related to PTSD, mental health symptoms, and adaptational outcomes. For example, children who were exposed to multiple war traumas, were bereaved, became victims of violent acts, witnessed violent acts, and/or were exposed to shelling or combat exhibited more PTSD symptoms. Children who were separated from parents reported more depressive symptoms and children who experience bereavement and were not displaced reported more planful behavior. Lastly, children who were separated from parents and who witnessed violent acts reported more prosocial behavior. Implications for program interventions and directions for future research on the effects of war on the psychosocial development of children are explored.

Adolescent↗