Several lines of research have demonstrated that memories for fearful events become transiently labile upon re-exposure. Activation of molecular mechanisms is required in order to maintain retrieved information. This process is called reconsolidation. Targeting reconsolidation - as in exposure-based psychotherapy - offers therefore a potentially interesting tool to manipulate fear memories, and subsequently to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We sadly lost our friend and colleague Edward J. (“Fast Eddie”) Frischholz, PhD, at the young age of 58. He died of heart failure, a complication of septic shock. He was a passionate advocate for the field of hypnosis, a tough monitor of its quality, a fine clinician, and an excellent researcher/statistician.

We studied 1,292 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who participated in a clinical trial of expressive writing to estimate the prevalence of perceived reintegration difficulty and compare Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare users to nonusers in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. About half of participants perceived reintegration difficulty. VA users and nonusers differed in age and military background. Levels of mental and physical problems were higher in VA users.

The present study examined the structural validity of the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in a large sample of U.S. veterans with military service since September 11, 2001. Participants (N = 1,981) completed the 25-item CD-RISC, a structured clinical interview and a self-report questionnaire assessing psychiatric symptoms. The study sample was randomly divided into two subsamples: an initial sample (Sample 1: n = 990) and a replication sample (Sample 2: n = 991).