ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

Little is known about how age and gender are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and traumatic experiences in treatment-seeking police offers. In this study, we examined 967 diagnostic files of police officers seeking treatment for PTSD. Six hundred twelve (63%) of the referred police officers were diagnosed with PTSD (n = 560) or partial PTSD (n = 52). Police officers reported on average 19.5 different types of traumatic events (range 1-43). Those who experienced a greater variety of traumatic events suffered from more PTSD symptoms.

Military personnel have an increased risk of developing stressrelated mental health problems after deployment to a combat zone [1]. In order to decrease the risk of developing stress-related disorders, biological vulnerability and protective factors should be identified. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide transmitter that is associated with modulation of the stress response. Previous studies reported reduced NPY levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [2].

Rationale: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating psychiatric condition that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event. Although effective treatment is available, including exposure therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy, about 30% of patients with PTSD do not respond to these treatments. Therefore, currently available treatments need to be improved. Intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin is a promising candidate for medication-enhanced psychotherapy (MEP), as oxytocin has been shown to increase sensitivity for social reward.

As posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops in approximately 10% of trauma-exposed individuals, there is an urgent need for effective preventive interventions for PTSD [1]. Oxytocin administration was previously found to beneficially influence neurobiological and socio-emotional factors associated with increased PTSD risk [e.g. 2, 3]. Therefore, we hypothesized that intranasal oxytocin administration early post-trauma in trauma-exposed individuals could prevent PTSD development .

Dückers et al analyse the relationship between prevalence estimates of trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in published data-sets from 24 countries, and between PTSD and vulnerability (based on a country vulnerability index developed in the 2013 World Risk report). The findings are substantially counterintuitive; countries with low vulnerability have higher life-time rates of PTSD, meaning that countries with low vulnerability and high trauma exposure have the highest rates of lifetime PTSD.

Millions of volunteers respond after disasters, with a 24% to 46% risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear which symptom trajectories develop and how they differ between core (volunteering before the disaster) and noncore volunteers (joining after the disaster) and which factors predict trajectories. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed at 6-, 12-, and 18-months postearthquake in 449 volunteers in Indonesia.

Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, was the beautiful location of the 14th Conference of the European Society of Traumatic Stress studies (ESTSS) from June 10 to 13, 2015. The main theme of this two-yearly conference was “Trauma in changing societies: social contexts and clinical practice.” The topic of the conference is timely, unfortunately. The current crisis in Syria changed (and is still changing) societies, especially in the Middle East.

Abstract
Background
Anhedonia is a significant clinical problem in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD patients show reduced motivational approach behavior, which may underlie anhedonic symptoms. Oxytocin administration is known to increase reward sensitivity and approach behavior. We therefore investigated whether oxytocin administration affected neural responses during motivational processing in PTSD patients and trauma-exposed controls.
Methods

Abstract
Background: It is hypothesized that the grieving process of relatives of missing persons is complicated by having
to deal with uncertainty about the fate of their loved one. We developed a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
with mindfulness that focuses on dealing with this uncertainty. In this article, we elucidate the rationale of a pilot
randomised controlled trial (RCT) for testing the feasibility and potential effectiveness of this CBT for reducing

Abstract
Background
Traumatic loss (e.g., homicide) is associated with elevated prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several studies comparing relatives of missing persons with homicidally bereaved individuals showed inconsistent results about the difference in PGD- and PTSD-levels between the groups. These studies were conducted in the context of armed conflict, which may confound the results. The current study aims to compare PGD- and PTSD-levels between the groups outside the context of armed conflict.