Longitudinal epigenome-wide association studies of three male military cohorts reveal multiple CpG sites associated with post-traumatic stress disorder

Background: Epigenetic mechanisms have been suggested to play a role in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here, blood-derived DNA methylation data (HumanMethylation450 BeadChip) collected prior to and following combat exposure in three cohorts of male military members were analyzed to assess whether DNA methylation profiles are associated with the development of PTSD. A total of 123 PTSD cases and 143 traumaexposed controls were included in the analyses.

“Hidden” and Diverse Long-Term Impacts of Exposure to War and Violence

Nowadays, the PTSD diagnosis is often a prerequisite for the survivor’s access to specialized treatment services and for obtaining legal recognition or financial compensation when exposed to violence. However, some survivors do not meet all necessary criteria for the PTSD diagnosis, particularly not in the long term. Therefore, they run the risk of being misdiagnosed, inadequately helped or undertreated, and may remain legally unrecognized and unprotected.

Commemoration of disruptive events : a scoping review about posttraumatic stress reactions and related factors

Collective commemoration in response to war or disaster is widespread across time and cultures. It is assumed to support those affected by the disruptive event to cope with their experiences. However, the actual relationship between commemoration and mental health outcomes is complicated and evidence of healing effects remains elusive.

 

Veterans’ perspectives on discussing moral injury in the context of evidence‐based psychotherapies for PTSD and other VA treatment

Objective

We examined Veterans’ perspectives on discussing moral injury in veterans affairs (VA) evidence‐based psychotherapies (EBPs) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other VA treatment.

Methods

Fourteen male warzone veterans (ages 25–74) who completed an EBP for PTSD within the past year participated in semistructured interviews related to discussing moral injury in VA treatment (e.g., EBPs for PTSD, chaplaincy). Qualitative interviews were evaluated using a thematic analysis.

Results

The prevalence of PTSD and major depression in the global population of adult war survivors : a meta-analytically informed estimate in absolute numbers

Background: Elevated prevalences of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MD) have been reported in populations exposed to war. However, no global estimates of war survivors suffering from PTSD and/or MD in absolute numbers have been reported.

 

Objective: We made the first attempt to estimate in absolute numbers how many adult war survivors globally may suffer PTSD and/or MD, which should inform local and global mental health programmes.

 

Ancestry Digitizes Millions of Holocaust Records

Ancestry, the genealogy and DNA testing company, has digitized millions of records of people who were displaced or persecuted in the Holocaust and made them searchable online at no cost.

Exposure to combat and deployment; reviewing the military context in The Netherlands

This paper reviews the military context of exposure to combat and deployment in Dutch soldiers. It does so by reviewing war victims and military psychiatry after WWII in the Netherlands, and describes Dutch deployments from the late 1970s to the present. ‘Who is the Dutch soldier’ is asked to articulate the mental load on the individual soldier before, during, and after deployment.

“We Decided the Museum Would Be the Best Place for Them” : Veterans, Families and Mementos of the First World War

Although it is generally considered that there was relatively little interest in the First World War throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Britain, these decades constitute a key moment in time when the embodied memories of the war transitioned into the cultural memory we are familiar with today. This article examines the transmission of memories of the First World War from veterans and their families to museums.

Bosnian Post-War Transgenerational Trauma and Its Impact on Post-War Born Children

Numerous scholars attempted to investigate the phenomenon of transgenerational impact of war-related trauma on the offsprings,and came with both conflicting and matching evidence. First studies emerged around Holocaust transgenerational trauma, expanding to other war-related cases as twentieth century progressed.

International meta-analysis of PTSD genome-wide association studies identifies sex- and ancestryspecific genetic risk loci

The risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma is heritable, but robust common variants have yet to be identified. In a multi-ethnic cohort including over 30,000 PTSD cases and 170,000 controls we conduct a genome-wide association study of PTSD. We demonstrate SNP-based heritability estimates of 5–20%, varying by sex. Three genome-wide significant loci are identified, 2 in European and 1 in African-ancestry analyses. Analyses stratified by sex implicate 3 additional loci in men.

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