Reduced Freezing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients while Watching Affective Pictures

Besides fight and flight responses, animals and humans may respond to threat with freezing, a response characterized by bradycardia and physical immobility. Risk assessment is proposed to be enhanced during freezing to promote optimal decision making. Indeed, healthy participants showed freezing-like responses to threat cues. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients are characterized by hypervigilance and increased threat responsiveness.

The relation between sleep and violent aggression

Good sleep is important for our emotional stability and aggression control. Although most people do not become violent after a period of poor sleep, this may be different for certain vulnerable individuals. Forensic psychiatric patients may represent a group of such individuals. We studied patients who committed a crime, often violent in nature, but are not completely held accountable for this due to a mental disorder. They usually get sentenced by the court to follow treatment.

How Well Do We Understand the Long-Term Health Implications of Childhood Bullying?

Abstract: Once dismissed as an innocuous experience of childhood, bullying is now recognized as having significant psychological effects, particularly with chronic exposure. Victims of bullying are at risk for a number of psychiatric disturbances, and growing evidence suggests that the pathophysiological effects of bullying, as with other forms of trauma and chronic stress, create additional health risks. We review the literature on the known sequelae of bullying, including psychiatric and physiological health effects, with a focus on implications for the victim.

Trauma-Focused Treatment in Psychosis

Traumabehandeling bij mensen met een psychose is effectief en leidt niet tot verslechtering, zoals jarenlang werd gevreesd door professionals in de psychiatrie. Dit blijkt uit het promotieonderzoek van David van den Berg. “De zorg dat deze groep patiënten hun behandeling niet aankunnen blijkt onterecht.”

Gender and Age Differences in Trauma and PTSD Among Dutch Treatment-Seeking Police Officers.

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.

Prolonged grief and post-traumatic stress among relatives of missing persons and homicidally bereaved individuals : A comparative study

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.

Prolonged exposure and EMDR for PTSD v. a PTSD waiting-list condition : effects on symptoms of psychosis, depression and social functioning in patients with chronic psychotic disorders

In patients with psychotic disorders, the effects of psychological post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment on symptoms of psychosis, depression and social functioning are largely unknown

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