“Prolonged grief disorder” and “persistent complex bereavement disorder”, but not “complicated grief”, are one and the same diagnostic entity : an analysis of data from the Yale Bereavement Study

There exists a general consensus that prolonged grief disorder (PGD), or some variant of PGD, represents a distinct mental disorder worthy of diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, confusion remains over whether different names and proposed symptom criteria for this disorder identify the same or different diagnostic entities.

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Art Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD : A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial was designed to determine if art therapy in conjunction with Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) was more effective for reducing symptoms of combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than CPT alone. Veterans (N = 11) were randomized to receive either individual CPT, or individual CPT in conjunction with individual art therapy. PTSD Checklist–Military Version and Beck Depression Inventory–II scores improved with treatment in both groups with no significant difference in improvement between the experimental and control groups.

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Dieter Wolke: "Important developmental influences have been ignored" : Escap 2017 keynote lecture on long-term effects of bullying

Bullying is an underestimated threat to mental health. And it will stay that way as long as therapists do not understand how bullies tick and why the victims keep silent. Professor Dieter Wolke (University of Warwick, UK) is doing research on the subject.

As a keynote speaker at the ESCAP 2017 Congress, he will explain how serious an issue bullying is, outline the differences in emotional reception between pure victims and bully-victims, and discuss the different cognitive biases and how the problem can be addressed in interventions.

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Excessive Alcohol Use In Crisis-affected Societies : A Weak Spot of Global Mental Health Research and Practice

It is a positive development that researchers dealing with conflict-affected populations have become mindful of the complex interplay of contributing factors concerning the development and perpetuation of mental health disorders, and their role in the transmission and perpetuation of violence. For instance, it has become common to integrate multiple contextual, intra-, and inter-individual factors using conceptual frameworks (e.g., adaptations of Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model) and longitudinal research strategies (e.g Amone-P’olak et al., 2013).

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Grief Responses in U.S. Military Families Following Soldier Loss

Grief has increasingly become a focus of attention within the military, with 80 percent of redeployed soldiers reporting knowing someone who was seriously injured or killed in theater (Thomas et al., 2010; Toblin et al., 2012). Among 15,938 military service members (SMs) who died between 2001-2011, the majority of the deaths were the result of traumatic events, including accidents (34 percent), suicides (15 percent), homicides (3 percent), and terrorism (less than 1 percent) (Cozza et al., in press).

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Online Safe Spaces for Trauma Survivors : A Helpful Source of Social Support?

A safe space is a place in which individuals can find refuge and protection from insensitivity, discrimination, persecution, and other potentially negative experiences. Debate on the utility of safe spaces at universities grows more controversial as college campuses struggle to address the growing numbers of students calling for their presence.

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Can a Few Sprays of Oxytocin Improve Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

Intranasal oxytocin may be a safe and effective pharmacological mechanism for improving effectiveness of trauma-focused psychotherapies—but caution is warranted.

The hormone oxytocin is well known for its effects on social and reproductive processes. Intranasal oxytocin (IN OT) has made a splash in the media and scientific community because of its potential for treating autism, schizophrenia, social anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While sometimes lauded as a panacea, IN OT is not without its critics (Leng & Ludwig, 2016), and for good reasons.

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Internet information on Childhood Abuse and Neglect (iCAN)

This e-pamphlet has been created to offer brief, relevant information to adults with childhood traumatic experiences. This information does not replace advice by a professional clinician or a national legislative body. Please seek support when reading this material triggers unpleasant feelings. This e-pamphlet will help you understand what childhood trauma is, what are its possible effects, what you can do to help yourself, and what you can do to get help from others.

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Odor-induced recall of emotional memories in PTSD : Review and new paradigm for research

It is clinically well known that olfactory intrusions in PTSD can be a disabling phenomena due to the involuntary recall of odor memories. Odorants can trigger involuntary recall of emotional memories as well have the potential to help diminishing emotional arousal as grounding stimuli. Despite major advances in our understanding of the function of olfactory system, the study of the relation of olfaction and emotional memory is still relatively scarce.

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Guided Act and Feel Indonesia (GAF-ID)–Internet-based behavioral activation intervention for depression in Indonesia : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

 

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